


I Believe In a Thing Called Love

by wirewrappedlily



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M, Mates, Wormtail didn't escape, i tripped and i troped, my firsts are my worsts go easy on me, tags and things to be updated as we go, werewolf mating
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-23
Updated: 2014-04-17
Packaged: 2018-01-13 12:10:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 56,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1225780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wirewrappedlily/pseuds/wirewrappedlily
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Remus, I have to keep from shifting until we get past the Willow." He murmured quietly, now wandless and alone with his werewolf. "Can you--?" </p><p>The great, hairy head nodded slowly, and Sirius smiled at him, pride bursting from his chest. </p><p>"That's my boy."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Living is so Fine

**Author's Note:**

> I got angry at the sexual tension and then this happened...

The moon was full tonight, Sirius Black realized as he looked at the greatest friend he'd ever had. 

The Great Git had said himself that Remus Lupin hadn't taken the potion to keep his mind through the transformation. The children were all stunned and scared, and all Sirius had was himself against the wolf. 

"Remus!" He snarled, stumbling forward to press a hand flat against Remus's chest as his eyes grew and his body started the shift. Remus managed to tear his gaze from the moon, snapping his eyes to Sirius, even for as different as he looked after all this time. "Remus, hear me. Hear my heartbeat: hear me breathe. You're safe, we both are. Remus, can you hear me?" 

There was a breathless moment, the wolf taking full hold, twisting Remus's body; but it was Sirius's grip that had taken hold of Remus's mind. The wolf nodded slowly, whimpering, staring into Sirius's eyes, and Sirius let himself be hit by the rush of relief that nearly took his legs out from under him. 

"Hermione, can you immobilize Wormtail and take him up to the castle?" Hermione immobilized him immediately, but then hesitated, almost enough to draw Sirius's eyes away from Remus's. 

"I don't...I don't know the incantation to summon the stretcher..." Hermione replied, voice squeaking. 

Sirius nodded slowly, keeping his eyes on Remus's as he told her the charm, knowing that she would be capable of performing it--if Remus believed she was the brightest witch of her age, she damn well was. "I have to go with Remus, Harry; I can keep him calm, and keep him from hurting anyone. Get up to the castle; tell Dumbledore what happened. Maybe keep it quiet that I'm in the forest until they get the Dementors off me--"

"The Dementors will find you in the forest, go back to the Shack." Hermione urged. "We will get them to clear your name!" 

Harry took a stumbling step forward, like he'd go along with them, but Sirius raised a hand, "This is for me, Harry. Remus has run many moons with me, he knows me. I can keep him tethered for the time being. He always has been a stubborn git." He laughed mirthlessly, his eyes twinkling at Lupin, "Go up to the castle, Harry. Clear my name. If they go back and you don't, even with Wormtail, they won't listen." 

Harry took a shaky breath, but Sirius knew he'd agreed. "I...I'll see you soon." Harry croaked. He took Snape's wand, still holding up the unconscious teacher, and drifted to his friends. 

"Yes, you will. Now, run!" 

Sirius listened as the children and their two captives tore cheek towards the castle high above them, but a smile was pulling at his mouth as he looked at Lupin, "Remus, I have to keep from shifting until we get past the Willow." He murmured quietly, now wandless and alone with his werewolf. "Can you--?" 

The great, hairy head nodded slowly, and Sirius smiled at him, pride bursting from his chest. 

"That's my boy." 

~*~

Albus Dumbledore was not listening to reason, Sirius decided as he, Remus, and Albus went through the circuitous conversation centred around the one person that could make all the difference in the world. 

"Harry needs to be shot of that place! I spent twelve years in Azkaban, but he's been imprisoned for most of his life! You don't understand--" 

"No, Sirius; you don't understand. In order to keep Harry safe--" 

"I know the old magic, Albus," Lupin cut in, his voice having changed, slowly, as they went through these points over and over, "you're trying to keep solid the bond of love that Lily's blood made in Harry. To keep him safe..." 

"Wha--?" Sirius started, then stopped, looking back to Dumbledore. 

The bright blue eyes were twinkling that Remus had gotten it, like it was some trick question on a test. "Harry is better protected at the Dursleys'--" 

"You labour under the assumption that it was a blood magic, Dumbledore; we can't know that. And what's more, those people do not love him. Not even in their own way." Remus murmured. 

"You do love him, Remus?" 

"I do, Albus. And so does Sirius. We were not merely James's friends; we were his brothers. And we have loved that boy from the moment he was conceived, and will love him 'til the end. If you wish to renew magic by love, there is no stronger love you will find. The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb, Albus." 

"Tell me." Albus said, as if it were some sort of story. 

"I've suffered for the last twelve years, knowing that Harry was out there, that I wasn't allowed to see the son of my best friend. It was as if I've been cut out of the world; my friends gone, my mate stripped from me--and by an apparent betrayal that I should've--" Sirius squeezed Remus's hand, meeting his eyes. It was forgiven, everything had been forgiven, in the watery hours of dawn while Sirius had a tongue and the story to tell; and Remus was shaking from the change, "I was left with one, very faint, star in my proverbial sky, Albus: Harry was alive, somewhere out there. That was all I had." 

"Sirius--" 

"Harry made it out alive. I've not been living for revenge the last twelve years. I've been living for the hope of getting the chance to do for him what I couldn't for James; of protecting him from the dark that will seek him out, and, with my guardianship, giving him a happiness it makes me sick to know now that he's never known. If the Dursleys had made him happy, I would step into whatever role he wants of me--" 

"Would you be willing to give him up?" 

"If he was happy, if he was cared for? Yes. But hearing what these Muggles have done, I can't let it stand." 

Albus nodded slowly, his eyes drifting down to his pressed-together fingertips, "And if I were to unequivocally tell you that it is the blood flowing through Petunia Dursley's veins protecting Harry...?"

"I would let him go for as long as it takes to replenish the bond, and then I would insist that he belongs with me." 

"You truly want only what's best for him." Albus said the words somewhere between a statement and a question, and Sirius and Lupin both nodded decisively. 

"Where do you intend to live? And I assume you mean to take this responsibility together?" 

"Yes, we're together." Sirius breathed, shooting a grateful look at Remus, "I have Grimmauld Place, and I'll be looking for another residence as soon as possible." 

"One, I assume, with the facilities to accommodate a werewolf?" 

"Yes, but Remus's moons are--well, they're almost comically easy. Remus can keep so much control now that it wouldn't surprise me to walk in one moon to find a giant wolf with his reading specs on his nose and a first edition in his hands." 

Remus tried to control the flow of his blood in order to keep his ears from turning pink, but it didn't stop the slight flush. 

Dumbledore's eyes turned to Remus now, "And you will remain on staff as the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts?" 

Remus swallowed, "If you'll continue to have me." He croaked. 

Albus turned his eyes to Sirius, "What about you, Sirius?" 

"You need a gamekeeper now that Hagrid is teaching, headmaster." Albus's eyebrows shot up, but he didn't say a word against Sirius's smirk. 

Albus sighed as he leaned back in his chair, his hands on his desk. "Harry will make the ultimate decision, because the Dursleys, as you say, will be well-shot of him, but I believe congratulations are in order gentlemen: You have a boy!" 

Harry was waiting for them at the foot of the gargoyle, pacing if the seated Ron and Hermione were anything to go by. 

"Well?!" Harry asked eagerly. 

"It's your decision, Harry," Sirius let Remus begin earnestly, and then he let his beam shine through, and Harry was leaping into their arms, yelling out in triumph. Ron and Hermione were beaming from their seats, looking relieved beyond measure as they watched the happy new family. 

Harry stared up at them for a long moment, his smile so wide it threatened to break his face, and Lupin chucked him on the chin, his lips quirking. "Harry, Remus and I..."

"You're mates. Together." Harry nodded, "Hermione figured it out, why you could keep such a handle with Sirius." 

"That means--" 

Harry was looking from one to the other, confusion drawing his eyebrows together, "You're in a relationship together." Harry shrugged, apparently more confused about why that would matter than he was about what they meant to each other. 

Remus and Sirius shared looks at one another, Remus shrugging minutely at the pride in Sirius's eyes, "We've a lot to do." Sirius muttered. 

"Yes, but we're together now, it'll get done." Remus replied easily. 

"Come along, Ron; Hermione, I think a good deal of food is in order." Sirius called, waving the two children towards them as they started to walk towards Remus's office, "How's the leg?" 

"Healed." Ron reported amiably. He'd spent the night in the Hospital Wing with Harry and Hermione and he glued to each other so that the Minister wouldn't be able to separate them and try to plant doubt that Sirius was really innocent. Peter Pettigrew had been taken into custody, though, from the trio, so it was only a matter of keeping the story to the truth. 

"I am sorry about that," Sirius murmured, "and I fully intend on replacing that rat." 

Ron looked up at him, shaking his head, his face a mask of horror, "Think I've turned off rats..." 

"How about an owl?" Sirius asked quietly. 

"Only if it's really an owl, not an Animagus." 

Sirius laughed, "Crookshanks will be able to tell." 

Hermione shot a smug look in the direction of Ron Weasley, though not really at him. "I'm going to ask the kitchen to send up some food, Pads." Lupin murmured as he let them all into the office, caught by Sirius before he could turn to go back out, and pulled into a kiss, chaste and sweet. Hermione was trying not to giggle, Ron and Harry exchanging pained expressions at someone kissing. 

Sirius sat down heavily on one of the chairs near the fire, looking down at his cracked and grimy nails; Harry sitting by his legs and Ron and Hermione sitting on the other, larger chair across from them. "Remus and I have been together since the second year of running with the wolf. During the war, we couldn't be close: It was too dangerous to be near anything to you loved, and Remus and I were not about to lose each other. But with the separation...things began to strain between us. Cracks began to form. When it became apparent there was a spy in the resistance, and suspicion began to take hold of...of _everyone_. Remus was a werewolf, and Peter was useless, weak, especially compared to Remus. Voldemort would want Remus...and without me there, I knew that the moons were wearing on him, harder than anything. I knew that he'd be vulnerable. And I didn't want to let Remus get hurt worse, being the Secret Keeper or knowing who the Keeper would be. It was...I didn't suspect him, really. I couldn't. I loved him. And I was susceptible, because I loved him, to thinking that, perhaps, I was blinded by my love. So I convinced James, under the impression that Voldemort would never want someone as useless as Peter, would never expect someone so weak to take such a huge responsibility, and I cost your parents their lives." 

"But you didn't. Peter would have made a brilliant decoy," Hermione assured him, "your plan was solid, Sirius; I believe the blame lay with Peter, all of it." 

Sirius smiled gently, "Thank you, Hermione." 

"I don't blame you, Sirius." Harry murmured, "Now that I know the truth...I don't think it's your fault." 

Sirius laid a hand over Harry's messy black hair, looking up as Remus pushed back into the office laiden with drinks, two platters floated through the door behind him, one piled with sandwiches and the other with treats, floating nonchalantly over to the desk as Lupin set his load down and brought his chair around to join them at the fire. 

Sirius took it from him, smiling slightly as he brought it next to his own chair, the children standing up to sort themselves some food. 

Remus trailed him, handing him a bottle of butterbeer and herding him down into the chair. "Let me take care of you." 

"You're the one that just went through--" Sirius argued, or started to, and Lupin bent over to kiss him lightly, taking the words from his mouth. 

"You have been through Azkaban, Siri. You're going to let me take care of you." 

Sirius tipped his head back as Lupin cupped his hands around his cheeks, so gaunt and haggard under his palms. Harry had a plate in his hand for Sirius already, uncertainty in his eyes. Lupin grinned at him, taking the plate and grabbing up a roast beef sandwich and a small container of hot gravy for it, setting aside a treacle tart for him. 

Sirius looked even more like a starving man as Remus brought him the plate, and Remus couldn't stop himself from bending to press a kiss to his cheek, "We'll get you healthy again in no time." He murmured, voice a loving rasp. 

Harry smiled up at him as he sat crosslegged on the floor against Ron and Hermione's legs now, able to see his godfather. "Professor Lupin," Harry started, then flushed, an awkward look crossing his face. 

"You can call me Remus or Moony when we're not in class, Harry." 

"M--Remus," Harry started again, looking still just as nervous, "when you took the Maurader's map from me, you told me that the writers of the map would delight in luring me off schoolgrounds and into trouble..." 

Sirius barked a laugh, shaking his head, "I did, Harry, yes. You father was more a troublemaker, even, than yourself." 

Sirius looked at Remus with a raised brow and Remus smiled at him. 

"I think perhaps you should tell your godfather of some of your exploits over the last two years, Harry: he'd do well to catch up." 

Harry nodded, and looked up at Hermione and Ron behind him, getting their nods that they'd help him tell it, too. "Begin at the beginning, Harry." Ron urged. 

Harry took a deep breath and then started to tell them about life at the Dursley's, when the letters from Hogwarts first began to arrive. 

Harry told them about being recruited for Quidditch by Professor McGonagall, about the House Cup, about Neville and the trap door under Fluffy. For as much as Remus knew more than Sirius, it was entirely another beast to hear Harry tell the story of what really happened. He was taken aback all over again at the ease with which these three children had endangered their lives for the greater good. Harry was so much like James that it gave him pause, seeing the way he interacted with Ron and Hermione, the three of them telling the story with disjointed little arguments of what happened when and with whom. Beside him, Sirius was engrossed, a look of pride and fear in his eyes that Remus had seen in his father's, just the exact same. With the telling of how in the year before Lucius Malfoy had planted Tom Riddle's diary on Ron's sister, Sirius went pale, eyes wide with rage at the thought of Lucius roaming free. Remus reached over, taking his hand, and Sirius pulled his eyes away from Harry for the first time in what had probably been an hour, sharing a look with Remus that spoke more than most of the words Sirius had at his disposal. Remus nodded to him, solemn, and Sirius looked back, urging Harry to go on, he wanted to hear it all. 

By the times Sirius had heard his exploits, Hermione and Ron were both quiet and introspective, the looks on their faces almost comical. 

"Y'know...when you put it like that, it all seems more daft than it did at the time." Ron muttered. 

"You two have corrupted me." Hermione gasped, her face crumpling in distress. 

"Y'never would've lived otherwise." Ron assured her. 

"We're so lucky we haven't been expelled yet." Harry sighed, shaking his head. 

"Luck's got little to nothing to do with it!" 

"Calm down, Hermione--" Ron urged. 

"I am calm, I'm just...we've broken every school rule there is to break, and we've been caught more times than I can count, and _we snuck a dragon out of Hogwarts in the dead of night_ , do you think it's ever going to calm down?!" 

The children turned to look at Remus and Sirius, and though they'd had many adventures, none had been quite like the ones they'd just been told of. Both men shook their heads, shrugging. 

"Blimey, if it keeps gettin' worse, mum's gonna kill me." 

"You're lucky she hasn't already, running around with Sirius Black." 

"She's going to be terrible." Ron moaned in response to realizing he'd have to tell her sooner or later. 

Harry patted him on the foot, Hermione patting him on the back, and Remus and Sirius chuckled. 

"Take comfort that I'll be in trouble with you, too." Harry reassured him.

"Oh, please! Mum loves you, you won't even get a lecture!" Ron whined. 

Hermione was nodding, "More than likely." 

Harry snorted. "Will we need to collect anything from Privet Drive, Harry?" Sirius asked. 

"No." Remus muttered, turning to look at him. 

Sirius nodded slowly, knowing the look, "Start new." He murmured. "The three of us can start new together." 

Harry smiled as Sirius reached over to take Remus's hand. 

"We'll have to get a place first." Remus murmured. 

"Ever the pragmatist. No, first we're both getting new robes." Sirius informed him, "Neither of us could ever pass for respectable homeowner like this." 

" _You_? Respectable? Merlin, if I ever live to see the day..." 

Harry and Hermione were both in silent fits of giggles, Ron half-asleep on Hermione's shoulder, but grinning dopily. 

"You're too damn thin, Remus." 

"You're one to bloody talk." 

"I've been incarcerated! You've been living at Hogwarts for the last year, you can't claim the kitchens haven't been feeding you properly." 

"It's been a stressful year." Lupin hissed in reply, scowling pointedly at Sirius.

Sirius let himself smile slowly, shaking his head at his love. "For that I'm sorry." 

Lupin shrugged one shoulder, "I came back to Hogwarts, I might've known you'd bollocks up my life again." 

Hermione was practically glowing, a young girl faced with a love story. Harry and Ron looked like two boys faced with a love story, which is to say, they looked completely grossed out. Harry was looking perturbed, though, and Sirius turned his attention back to his godson. 

"Who made you think you loved Remus too much to see clearly?" He asked quietly. 

Sirius and Remus shared a look, grim because they both already knew, the conversation unnecessary, "Harry..." 

"It was Professor Dumbledore, wasn't it?" 

"You need to understand, Harry: Sirius and I were in the resistance with your father; I would die for Sirius, and him for me--and both of us for your father. We were dangerous for this. The three of us posed the risk of sacrificing ourselves for the others, and though Sirius and I were mated, it wasn't a shared tidbit of information. Had he known..." 

"Had Dumbledore known, he might not have--" 

" _Might_." Harry emphasized. "Does he disagree with your relationship?" 

Lupin barked a laugh this time, "No, Harry." 

"He's homosexual as well." Hermione murmured. 

Harry looked surprised, but not as shocked as Ron. He rounded on Hermione, "How could you possibly--" 

"Oh, honestly, Ron! You're the one that got me researching it! I looked up Gellert Grindelwald after you showed me Dumbledore's chocolate frog card." 

"You mean Dumbledore and--" Ron's eyes were huge, "how the bloody hell could you know?!" 

Hermione huffed, tossing her hair over one shoulder as she rolled her eyes. 

"Just because you're as thick as can be doesn't mean the rest of us have the emotional maturity of a lawn flamingo." 

Harry snorted, then nearly cackled at the confused looks the wizards gave. Lupin's lips were tugging, his mother's Muggle background informing him. "Be kind to each other, you three. I daresay you're the most precious people to each other." 

Sirius shook his head at Remus's sentimentality, a fond, kind smile pulling at his lips. "Wait a moment...Remus, you took the map from Harry?"

"I'm a professor, Sirius--" 

"Bloody hell, Remus!" Sirius heaved himself off the chair, going to Remus's desk and trying the drawers until he found one that wouldn't open for him. Crossing back to Remus, he snagged the key from a hidden pocket in his robes, then unlocked the drawer deftly, shifting things until he found the familiar, worn piece of parchment, taking it to Harry. "This should be yours, blast the rules." 

Remus was glaring at his lover, "Sirius--" 

"We made it so that people like us would find good use of it, Remus." 

A muscle in Remus's jaw twitched, but he relented, rolling his eyes. "Fine, but, please, don't use it to risk your neck, Harry?" 

Harry took out his wand and tapped the page, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." He told the map, watching as it filled itself out. "I would've known if I was risking myself: see, Sirius shows up." Harry pointed, showing Remus as if he needed proof.

"With the map, Harry could just as well have snuck up on Sirius if he'd been on school grounds and have taken revenge, being ill-informed." Hermione pointed out. 

Remus considered this for a moment before pointing out, "Considering how things worked out, that would have been ill-advised." 

Harry had a suddenly petulant look on his face, his green eyes flashing in the firelight, "I don't like being kept from information." He said finally, and Hermione and Ron both nodded. "I didn't even know how my parents died until first year, hearing it from Hagrid." 

Sirius and Harry both looked rather stormy, but for different reasons: while Harry's mind churned over all the things he'd had to fight to know in the last three years--things that could have saved them from getting into so much more life-threatening situations--Sirius's mind was on the Dursleys, and how mistreated his godson had been for far too long. Hermione and Remus were wearing matching expressions of understanding on their faces, both hurting for the people they held very dear. "All's well that ends well, Harry." She told him softly, and Harry nodded, but it didn't chase the storm from his features. 

"I need to send an owl to your aunt and uncle..." Sirius began softly, but Remus caught his hand before he could rise. 

" _I'll_ be sending the letter informing them that they no longer care for Harry, Sirius. Your temper will only make things worse." 

"Worse than keeping Harry locked in a cupboard until being scared into letting him have an actual bedroom?!" 

"Sirius--" 

"I should bloody well go down to London and give them a piece of my bloody mind!" 

"No!" Harry jumped a little, holding out his hands, his eyes huge behind his glasses, "Your picture was circulated on Muggle television, Sirius: everyone knows that you're a wanted man. I doubt that news will travel that fast, and until your name is completely cleared, you have to lay low." 

Sirius scowled, sitting back in his seat. "They'd better clear my name completely soon, because I'd really rather deliver the message that they have no control over you in person, and school is almost over." 

Harry looked fond, but tired. He raised his wand quietly and let the happiness of having a godfather, of having his favourite teacher a parent now, fill him up. "Expecto patronum." 

From the tip of his wand burst forth a stag, tossing his mighty head as he ran circles around Lupin's office before disappearing. Harry met Sirius's eyes meaningfully. 

"Harry, that was brilliant!" Ron and Hermione chorused, and Lupin was beaming at him. 

"I think...the best way to get back at the Dursleys...would be to continue being happier than they could ever know." Harry said, entirely too wisely for Ron or Hermione's liking. 

"That sounded like Dumbledore, mate." 

Harry shrugged, and then snorted into laughter, "If I ever see them again, it'll be too soon." He admitted. 

Hermione was looking pensive, though, and the attention turned to her. "I've a feeling that I know what you're contemplating." Remus murmured. 

"Sir, I--" 

"I fully agree. And you're running out of time. I think the headmaster would agree with us as well, Hermione, so be quick about it, and I should think you should take Harry with you. From what I've heard, he had a report." Hermione nodded quickly, then looked at Ron, wincing in sympathy. 

"Um..."

"I'll explain it to them. Take Buckbeak to the Shrieking Shack; we'll make our way now, you can meet us there."

Hermione nodded, bouncing up and taking Harry by the sleeve, tugging him along. 

"What is going on?" Ron asked worriedly. "Buckbeak was executed--" 

"If Harry and Hermione succeed, he won't be." Lupin told him. "Hermione's classes--" 

"Are berserk." 

"And that is why, Ron, she was given a Time Turner." Realization dawned on Ron, his mouth falling open. "Now, the three of us are expected down in the Shack." 

Ron walked beside Sirius, Lupin and he flanking him as they walked through the corridors, Sirius in a set of robes borrowed from Remus. Neither man was touching, but Ron knew they were thinking about it at the very least. Ron nearly growled at the gawking students as they passed, calling out that Sirius Black was innocent to anyone who looked particularly apopletic or jumpy. By the time they were on the grounds, Sirius was laughing to himself at having a short, underage, redheaded bodyguard, and Ron was blushing because of it. They walked into Hogsmeade instead of taking the Whomping Willow passage, Remus hissing that he was and would remain a teacher at this school and would not be the one responsible for getting the children maimed by disappearing near the tree for their curiosity to be piqued. 

"Moony, I'm so glad you didn't take your prefecture as to heart as you're taking this professor thing." Sirius commented idly, shaking his head at the rule-abiding werewolf. 

"Yes, well, if you intend on going for groundskeeper, it'll be your skin that McGonagall rips off if a student tangles with that damn tree." 

Ron paused looking horrorstruck at Sirius, "No, Ron: with Hagrid teaching, I made the point that a groundskeeper is needed at the school, I will not be replacing Hagrid, I wouldn't have said a thing if I'd ever thought Dumbledore would get rid of him. I know how good he's been to Harry. And besides, I don't think I'll take a job at Hogwarts. I rather like the idea of starting a bookstore in Hogsmeade." 

"Could you teach Harry, Hermione and me to become Animagi?" Ron asked, looking up at Sirius from under his red fringe. 

"I..." Sirius tore his eyes to Remus, but Remus wasn't giving him the answers here, leaving it up for Sirius's better judgement. "I think that first we should see if Harry and Hermione would be willing to try it. It's an awful lot of very hard work." 

Ron nodded, looking thoughtful. "If they aren't, could I still learn?" 

"Of course." Sirius answered instantly, and knew by the look in Remus's eyes that it had been the right one. He had the sneaking suspicion that Ron scraped by and tended not to want to learn, so if he was willing to put in the work, Sirius would teach him anything. "Of course, Professor McGonagall might--" He cut off when Ron's face screwed up, and Sirius nodded, "She's a tough one, I'll give you that. Can't say how I'll fair as a teacher, though, remember. I've a bit of a short temper." 

"Now James was the teacher of us." Lupin agreed, sighing. "He's the one that taught Peter most, I think. He was just as temperamental as this one, but...he was also incredibly giving, incredibly tolerant. He understood that some people have difficulty learning what they already know--what they instinctively know--so he tended to let you blunder along until you tripped, then helped you back up and started you off again." 

Sirius laughed. "He'd also be the one to trip you, sometimes." 

Lupin, Sirius, and Ron slipped through a secret entrance into the Shack that Sirius himself had blasted into existence to let the Marauders run free, and were met with Harry and Hermione suddenly appearing into existence, standing halfway between the waiting Buckbeak and the new arrivals. 

"Wotcha, Harry." Remus greeted, smiling softly. "I see we were successful." 

Harry nodded breathlessly, colour burning high in his cheeks. "That...was stressful." Hermione panted, turning to Buckbeak and bowing. After a moment, Buckbeak bowed back, and let Hermione approach, producing a dead ferret from within her robes and feeding him. 

"You weren't seen?" 

Hermione shook her head, petting carefully at Buckbeak's soft down around his face. "Professor, how do we...?" 

"Take care of a fugitive hippogriff?" 

"We get a house on the outskirts of Hogsmeade with a horse paddock." Sirius shrugged, bowing to the beast himself before padding forward to pat him heartily on the haunch. Buckbeak curved his great head around, knocking Hermione off her feet and resting his great head on her legs. Startled, she laughed and pet his feathers some more. 

"Hogsmeade?" Harry asked excitedly. 

"Sirius--" 

"No, Moony, we should be close to the wizarding world. Harry has spent enough time with Muggles, and neither of us are well-equipped to reintegrating in that world. It's been twelve years since I was even with my own kind. And if we stay here, you and I have a forest to deal with the moons through." 

"You do realize I have to live up at the school?" 

"No, you don't!" Sirius scoffed. "We'll hook it up for Floo, Remus, and you can come home straight from your office fireplace." 

Remus and Harry were wearing much the same dopey grin, "Home sounds brilliant..." Harry breathed, and Remus nodded his agreement. 

Sirius beamed at them both, "That it does, lads." 

"Dad might be able to get World Cup tickets this summer..." Ron began. 

"We'll get tickets, all of us." Sirius told him easily. "I'll take care of it so that we can go together. Cornelius Fudge owes me one." Ron shook his head, but Sirius clapped him on the shoulder, ducking slightly to look him in the eyes, "You are my godson's best friend, Ron; I'll agree to letting Harry go with you in a heartbeat, but I'd much prefer it if we went together." 

"Of course." Ron agreed immediately, somber now. "Didn't think..." 

Sirius shook it off, smirking at him kindly. "I'll talk to Arthur, see if we can't get seats together anyway." 

Hermione looked cautious, and Ron snorted at her, "You're coming, too, of course." 

Hermione smiled, looking down under a sweep of lashes. "I was hoping..." 

"We're best friends, Hermione. Why on earth would you think we wouldn't want you there with us?" 

Hermione reached out, hugging both boys around the necks with a beaming smile. Remus smiled at them for a moment before sighing. "No, but really, Sirius: we should return Buckbeak to Hagrid with a new name once the Ministry has something better to do." 

Sirius sighed as if Remus had stolen all the fun out of the world, but smiled and nodded anyway. "Only fair." 

The sun was setting by the time they left Buckbeak in the Shack, well-fed and able to leave if he so chose, though they all hoped he wouldn't immediately fly back to Hagrid's. They reached the castle in time for dinner, but Sirius went to the kitchens, asking for food to bring up to Remus's office again. 

"Sirius is a favourite at the kitchens, always has been. Something about being a smarmy git." Remus commented, fond and snide all at the same time. 

Hermione giggled, stealing a glance at Harry that spoke of the thought that he would be the one to charm the kitchens, too. Remus grinned at her over the boys' heads, nodding minutely. 

~*~

Remus knew that Sirius had gone to see the Dursleys. He knew in the way Sirius stormed into the house they'd bought just a week after Sirius's name had been cleared (before even leaving Hogwarts for Grimmauld Place, the better to stay away from the mouldering hell hole). He knew in the pent up rage in his hands, behind his flashing eyes. Harry was with the Weasleys, playing Quidditch until there wasn't any light to play by and spending the night with Ron waiting for Hermione before the Cup the next day. 

Sirius looked up at him with fire and death in his eyes, and Remus went to him, wrapped him in his arms, and just waited for the storm to break, for it all to come tumbling through. 

"They'd had him in a cupboard. I talked to Minerva McGonagall, Remus. They'd had him in a bloody cupboard!" He seethed. Remus bit back comforts, because Sirius needed to ride this storm out until it was done. "They abused him, they neglected him...I should've bloody been there. I should've been at the house, not chasing down Wormtail. I should've been there to raise him with you. I was a bloody prat for going after him, let alone for trusting him over you! I've trusted you with my life for years, Remus. Every time the moon changed. I love you so much and I always did, and it's all my bloody fault that Harry's been raised by those ruddy _people_!" 

Keeping his silence as Sirius shook against him, it wasn't until the tremors stopped that he curved a hand around the back of Sirius's neck, bringing him out of Remus's shoulder so that he could stare him in the eye, speaking soft and slow, "I've let you rot in a cell, Sirius. I let myself be convinced, just as much as you, that you were the spy that betrayed James and Lily. We love each other enough to be blinded that we can't blind each other to our faults and missteps. You've trusted your life to me for years, and I've trusted my sanity to you. But Harry was more precious to both of us than either of us were willing to lose, so protecting him meant more to you than your life; more to me than my sanity. We've been utter fools, my love, but we never stopped loving each other, and we never will." Remus pressed his lips just above Sirius's dark eyebrow, pulling him in tighter. 

Sirius reached up to Remus's shoulders, clinging on nearly too tight, but not nearly tightly enough. Remus closed his eyes, breathing in the scent of forest and wilderness and animal that came off of Sirius. Sighing, Remus continued quietly, "You were grieving, Sirius. You'd lost your family. And you thought you'd bollocksed things up with me, I'd wager. You haven't, by the way." 

"I know...you just told me, but...why are you so okay--" 

"Because I remember, Sirius. I remember the uncertainty, the suspicion. And you love me, but I'm still a wolf, still a Dark Creature, it so easily could've been me. It might've, had it not been for you." Remus held on when Sirius flinched, "I was approached by Greyback on a moon when you were away on a mission. He tried to convince me as the wolf, but I fought him off. By the amount of blood when I awoke, I fought him good. Because of you." Remus shifted back to look at Sirius again, "The wolf in me was kept in check with the one who sired me trying to get me to lose it...all because I'd brought one of your jumpers and it smelled like you." Sirius kissed the words out of his mouth, sending Remus stumbling slightly under the onslaught and dragging Sirius along with him. Remus slid his hands down to Sirius's backside, squeezing lightly just to hear Sirius growl. Sirius pushed forwards now with a goal in mind, overbalancing onto Remus as he hit the arm of the couch and went down. Laughing into his skin, Sirius ran his nose over the curve of Remus's jaw, inhaling deep like the dog was the dominant part of him. Remus mused that sometimes it was. 

Sirius kissed him slowly and thoroughly, though, even with the desperation dancing under his skin. "We should move this into the bedroom, Remus." He sing-songed, sucking on Remus's pulse point before Remus could do anything about it. 

"R-Right...Harry..." Remus agreed shakily, trying to convince his legs to move with Sirius attached to his jugular and a heavy weight on his chest, perfect and solid after too long being nothing more than a ghost of sensation chasing through Lupin's dreams. 

Remus pressed his hand against the small of Sirius's back, groaning. Sirius hummed as he pressed slow kisses to Remus's loose lips, peppering his face in kisses. 

"Too bloody thin, Siri. It feels the same, but it doesn't." Lupin murmured, his eyes closed as Sirius found new places to press his lips. 

"I'll get back to being me, Remus." 

"I love you anyway," Remus whispered, "in any way you look or feel against me." 

"I love you, too, Remus. Would you marry me?" Sirius whispered, "Please?" 

"Sirius." Remus murmured, cupping his hands around Sirius's cheeks, looking into his eyes, "Are you really asking to marry me?" 

"Yes, Remus. I want you to marry me. I've wanted it for a long while, not counting twelve years of simply wanting _you_." 

"I'll marry you, Sirius. I want you to be mine." Remus carded his hand through Sirius's long black hair, kissing him soundly. 

"Good, even though I already am yours." Sirius grinned, sitting himself up and pulling Remus up, too, moving to the bedroom. Sirius caught his hands before Remus could shed his clothes, laying them both on the bed fully clothed, curled around each other as Sirius stroked his rough-tipped fingers over Remus's skin like he was a painter picking up his brush for the first time in years. Remus caught his hand after a minute and kissed his fingertips. 

"I'm not going to disappear; you're not dreaming, so you won't wake. You're here, this is real. You know this, I know you do." Remus's voice was like a breath of cool wind after nearly suffocating in the heat, and Sirius kissed his forehead, resuming his stroking. 

"I do know, Remus. I can tell because this is good. It's real and warm and I can't find anything that reminds me that it's fake, so it has to be real." 

Remus put mouth to the tattoos that Sirius had been branded with, kissing like it'd take them away, and Sirius wanted them gone. 

"Maybe we should ask Molly to have Harry sleep over..." Sirius groaned. 

"She is having him sleep over, love. Hermione gets in tonight, then we'll all be at the Cup, and Molly practically said 'practice safe, boys' outright." 

Sirius laughed, head thrown back, and Remus took that opportunity to suck on his Adam's apple. "Knows a bloke's needs, Molly does." Sirius moaned helplessly as Remus's hand cupped around his bulging erection. 

Remus hummed in agreement, eyes coming up to meet Sirius's before he was sliding down, pulling half-impatiently at Sirius's Muggle clothes until he could reach skin. Stroking his hands over the scarred and tattooed skin of Sirius's pale, thin chest, Remus raked his gaze over Sirius's slowly colouring skin until he could meet Sirius's gaze, his own dark and intense enough to make Sirius's very cells thrum with want and anticipation. Remus licked his lips, shifting up so that Sirius could make quick work of his clothes and get Sirius's own off completely in the process. With a sigh, Sirius rested his hands on Remus's waist, looking up at the blond werewolf with a smirk pulling at the side of his mouth. 

"I've waited for this for thirteen years, Moony." He cooed, tracing the backs of his knuckles over the paunch Remus had, though he was still too thin in every other way, in place of any muscle. It was really just a sign that Remus wasn't starved, to Sirius, because he'd seen Remus in his youth; he'd known the man and the wolf, and both tended to take better care of themselves than allowing a paunch to form. Too hungry to work it off, but fed enough that it'd formed. "I've been worried about you, love, so bloody worried. I'm going to take care of everything now, Remus; you don't have to worry about anything anymore." 

Skirting his hands over self-inflicted scars--some old and some new--Sirius drew his fingers up until he could smooth over the faint worry lines in Remus's forehead, taking his face between his hands and drawing him down. 

Neither of them were the men they'd been when they'd fallen in love, and yet both of them couldn't give a good god damn about any of it, so long as they had each other. Remus reached, tapping his wand to Sirius's fingers, and lube spilled over the long, elegant digits. Sirius's breath caught and he rolled them so that Remus was against the bed, spread out beneath him, his mouth crashing down on Remus's before he slid his hand down, tracing a short wet path over Remus's perineum and into his hole, catching his lovely sounds on his tongue. There were spells to take care of this part for them, but, "I like doing it this way...making it slow. Making it last. Turning you inside out over and over." 

Remus shuddered, his gasping coming out ragged as he let his head fall to one side, trying to resist riding down on Sirius's fingers as they slicked him. Clucking at the sight of his lover, Sirius slid down Remus's body, sucking on the pale skin of his tummy and hips, then licking the leaking precum dripping down Remus's shaft. Remus jolted and swore, and Sirius smirked to himself before twisting the two fingers he had inside his lover and taking his cock as far as he could in one go. It was messy and by far not the best head Sirius had ever given, but it was Sirius, back from purgatory and hell, it was the two of them, together for the first time in far too many days, the expanse of it making Remus want to choke with tears that he'd let Sirius go for that long at all. 

His orgasm broad-sided him, vision whiting out as Sirius hummed and drank him down, his chest seizing with memory and dread that this could all be a dream, just as much as Sirius had feared it to be--more, because when Remus dreamed of Sirius, there wasn't any cold to remind him where his body was as his mind drifted; nothing to tip him off but the harsh daylight that would tear him away from the man he'd loved and thought he'd lost forever with a betrayal that had never sat right in his gut. 

Sirius kissed him, his fingers disappeared from inside him, and when Remus managed to get his eyes opened, Sirius looked broken, his arms boxing Remus in with a desperation in his eyes that Remus would've fancied to have been there the night Peter had slipped through all their fingers. But this was desperation not for revenge; it was desperation for him, Remus Lupin, because Remus had sobbed out his orgasm, the panic attack hidden somewhere in the middle of his orgasm, and he was still having trouble breathing. 

Remus reached up, trailing his hands over Sirius's lower back, trying to get him to ease down, to kiss him, but Sirius was having none of it, staring at him with those damnable eyes with no uncertainty that Remus wasn't going to distract him from making sure his lover was as whole and intact as he'd ever managed to be. Remus could easily get lost in those eyes. He had before; staring for hours instead of studying, tripping into Sirius's chest over level ground just because he couldn't look away. 

"N-No, Sirius, please..." 

Sirius lowered his mouth right beside Remus's ear, "I'm not going anywhere, Moony. It's okay." He moved his mouth to kiss Remus, long and slow, until Remus's head was spinning with it, and just like that the panic attack was subsiding, and Remus found he could really breathe again, licking his lips as he looked up at Sirius. 

"No one's touched me since you..." Remus admitted. "I couldn't...after you were gone, I didn't want anyone else--" 

Sirius framed his face with his lube-free hand, looking into his eyes like he could hypnotize Remus out of his needless admittances. Remus dragged in air and pushed it out, calming while he looked at Sirius's face. "I can't help but be bloody glad you haven't been touched, Remus. It'd drive me wild: you are mine." 

"Then claim me, Pads." Remus sighed, shifting his legs open and sliding his hand down around Sirius's flagging cock. 

That his lover had been worried enough to push arousal away so entirely made Remus swallow with being so loved; with loving him so much. "Ah," Sirius moaned slightly, but moved away from Remus's hand, looking him in the eyes, "I will not hurt you, Remus." 

"No, you won't." Remus replied easily, sliding over with a grunt and straddling Sirius's hips, reaching down to guide his cock as he lowered himself down. Sirius whined, doglike, and his fingers curled against the sheets instead of scratching at Remus's skin. 

Sirius's hips rose just a fraction when Remus had almost fully seated himself against Sirius's hips, slapping the remaining inch into the tight heat. Remus moaned, biting his lip as he looked down at Sirius, raising himself up slowly only to slap himself back down hard, forcing a high moan out of Sirius's throat. 

In their youth, Remus would've woken Sirius up much like this, either sucking him or outright riding him into consciousness; but the time came a hell of a lot sooner when Remus couldn't keep up with the movement any more, his thighs burning and his back dripping with sweat. 

Sirius knew with the stutter in his thrusting what Remus needed, and wrapped carefully around him, shifting him onto his back and kissing down his cheek and throat, Remus's legs coming up around his hips as Sirius picked up a rhythm for them, a little faster than Remus's. It wasn't like puzzle pieces fitting; Sirius had to shift, trying to remember this and remember exactly what turned Remus into a wordless fool, but Sirius did know the body beneath him; and he knew that turning Remus into a wordless fool could be done. 

Pressing loose kisses to his cheek, Sirius finally found Remus's prostate, humming at the scratch of Remus's nails on the bottom of his ribs, the arch of Remus's back. Remus panted against Sirius's shoulder, whimpering in total indignity as Sirius wrapped a hand around his cock and spread the precum leaking from his slit over his skin. 

"Look at me, Remus." Sirius urged, and Remus was pinned through by that steely Black gaze. Sirius was a man gone mad and utterly driven for what he set his mind to, and taking Remus apart was decidedly that goal. Remus's fingers left bruises over Sirius's arms as he came for a second time, the too-long years protesting that he really wasn't sixteen anymore; waking up after a moon wrapped naked around what had been Padfoot and was replaced with Sirius to fuck each other into oblivion wasn't something he could do anymore. 

"C'mon, old man." Remus teased, voice breathless in aftershocks. Sirius laughed deep in his chest, bending over his body and curving a hand around the paunch before kissing him. 

"Oh, I don't think so, Moony." Sirius teased, the rough tips of his fingers trailing over pale skin. He pulled out carefully, and Remus whined, but he was going to be too overstimulated soon, and Sirius absolutely refused to hurt him even a little. 

Remus was pliant, letting Sirius kiss down his chest, licking up the little cum he'd been able to produce on his second orgasm. He shuddered as Sirius drew further down, still licking his skin clean, only to gently press kisses over his absolutely spent cock and balls, cleaning up all of it. Remus groaned heartily, and Sirius simply finished his work and moved on, tracing the inside of Remus's thigh with his fingers, and kissing the inside of Remus's knee to tickle him, fielding an attempted knee to the head with a devilish little feign at scolding. Remus rolled over easily, curling his arms around the pillow and relaxing each of his muscles, Sirius's hands and mouth the only thing keeping him from dreams. Remus groaned again as Sirius ran a soothing hand up his back pre-emptively, then felt his muscles stiffen and release in a delicious roll of pleasure as Sirius licked and bit at the curve of his bottom, then moved to dip his tongue into Remus's hole. 

Whining, Remus kept his head buried in the pillow as Sirius worked at him, biting the fabric and letting out a desperate gasp as Sirius's long fingers joined his tongue. Words bubbled to his lips that Sirius was honestly trying to kill him now; that he couldn't survive much more of this, he was older now--but then Sirius slid his tongue and his fingers free, kissing his way over Remus's back until he was slowly guiding himself back in, voice a low rasp, "I'd make a joke about doggie style, but I remember seventh year when you threw me halfway 'cross the room..." 

Remus laughed helplessly, the pleasure centre of his brain so overworked at this point that he didn't know if he would have the coherency to do anything of the sort. "I'm going to pass out, Sirius--" 

"Kind of the point, love." Sirius kissed his hair, breath panting raggedly in his ear as Remus tensed around him and came, Sirius fucking him through it in such a way that it seemed to last for ages, until Remus was suddenly waking up, everything cleaned and Sirius tucked around him, sleeping on his chest. Threading his fingers through the shaggy hair, Remus took stock of himself for a moment before tossing it aside and closing his eyes once more, relaxed in the heat of Sirius's sleeping form and more content than he could articulate that the deep-seated knowledge that Sirius would never hurt him sat curled in his chest, around his heart, where it'd been trying to comfort him for the last thirteen years. 

Sirius had never been a morning person, and Remus had never gotten the hang of rising early unless he had something to do, but they were both more than ready to spend the day with Harry and the Weasleys and Hermione at the Quidditch World Cup. 

Fred or George Weasley nodded to them as they Apparated to the Burrow, toasting them with a cup of tea and a bit of toast, "Here I thought getting out of Azkaban would result in making up for thirteen years' worth of shagging." He shrugged cheerily, and Remus snorted. 

"Got caught up on at least three last night." Sirius replied conversationally, suffering through Remus smacking him hard on the chest. 

The other twin came sauntering out, grinning wickedly. Sirius had heard by reputation that the Weasley twins were fit to be honorary Marauders, and made a mental note to talk to Remus about some kind of induction ceremony they could perform to honour the occasion. 

It wasn't long before someone in the house--evidently female--screamed in unmasked fury. "Y'know, I reckon calling this hour 'morning' is a bit of a misnomer, Fred." Said the new arrival, apparently George. 

"Couldn't agree more, George." Fred toasted him before stuffing the last bit of toast into his mouth and gesturing with a nod of his head back to the house, "Ronald?" 

"I'm quite impressed at the pitch this one got, I'll admit." 

"That was your brother, not your mother or sister?" Sirius cut in, looking impressed even though Remus was trying to hide his own reaction. 

"Lazy git was trying to sleep in." Fred shrugged, as if he'd been the one to do whatever it was George had done to wake him. 

Sirius smiled slowly, "I'm Padfoot, by the way: this is Moony." Both twins' mouths dropped open, their eyes going huge. They knocked each other's hands out of the way to shake with Sirius's, then grabbed Remus's though he hadn't offered it. 

Fred bowed over Remus's hand, and George mirrored him from where Fred had shoved him out of the way. "You two are scholars and gentlemen, sirs." George intoned with an exaggerated accent. 

Lupin snorted, rolling his eyes up to Sirius, "Hardly gentlemen." Ron came crashing down the stairs at that moment, his hair bright green and his freckles worryingly orange. Harry slipped past Mrs. Weasley's sudden rush to uncharm her son, smirking at Fred and George as he came outside. 

"Nicely done." Harry whispered, bumping fists with the twins before grinning at his godfather and his favourite professor. Harry yawned, and accepted the tea cup thrust under his nose by Ginny, who grinned at her brothers. 

She cheersed them with her own cuppa, nodding to Lupin and Sirius, "Mum will have breakfast for you both, if you want to go in." She offered. 

"No, thanks. Sirius made breakfast at a ridiculous hour of the morning." Remus replied happily. 

"I think I'll grab a cuppa, though. Moony?" 

"Thanks, Pads." Remus nodded, slinging an arm around Harry. "So, Harry; young Messrs Weasley; young Miss Weasley. Sirius hasn't been pranked in far too long..."

Fred and George drew in, eager, and Ginny grinned wildly. 

Sirius came back a few minutes later to conspicuous silence, unease running through him as he handed Remus his cup of tea and cradled his own. "So, Harry; who won last night?" 

"Don't actually know," Fred murmured, voice questioning as he turned his head to George to see if he could, "Harry caught the Snitch, of course. And Ginny's a right fine Chaser." 

"She's a right fine Beater, too, though." George reasoned, "Wouldn't surprise me if she was imagining Snape's head with every swing she takes." 

Ginny looked up at the two of them, eyes twinkling, "Of course not. I'm imagining Lucius Malfoy's." 

"That is bloody brilliant, Ginny, I can't express how much I approve." Sirius cut in, bowing over her hand as Fred had bowed over Remus's. 

"Sirius, Snape is a Hogwarts--" 

"Snivellus is a Hogwarts professor, yes, Remus, and your protests are duly noted, you can now shove trying to act like he's any good, because evidence has been given that you tried your best." Sirius replied, hands on his hips as he drew himself up expectantly. 

"I'm also--" 

"A Hogwarts professor, and you don't think McGonagall doesn't trash-talk him when Gryffindor's won the House Cup; or that his students don't all despise him within an inch of his slimy-haired life? He tried to out you for being a werewolf, love." 

"You're forgetting, Sirius, that I nearly killed him--" 

"No, I nearly killed him, Remus. You weren't you." 

Remus and Sirius glared at each other, and Harry cleared his throat, "Did...is that how my dad saved Snape's life?" 

"Yes, Harry." Remus sighed, sounding more like he had mid-year, the weight of the world pressing down on him. 

"It was my fault," Sirius spoke up before Remus could take another breath, "Remus was innocent. Completely." 

"Alright, you lot!" Arthur Weasley's voice came from inside, "We'd best be on our way. Harry, Ron, get your things; Ginny, are you sure you've got all you need? Sirius! Remus! Good to see you both. Thought I might have to Floo to make sure you arrived." 

"No, we wouldn't miss this for the world!" Sirius laughed, accepting a vigourous handshake. Lupin shot Harry a look, telling him that what they wouldn't miss out on was spending time with him. Harry smiled, swallowing as he nodded his thanks just as silently as Remus. 

"Now, you all be careful!" Molly admonished before Ron came crashing through the gathering at the door, his hair green-tipped but his freckles returned to normal. Ginny snickered, passing Hermione as she brought out Harry's bag to him. The brilliant young woman was also fighting a grin at Ron's misfortune, but she pulled her brows together enough to look concerned over her mounting amusement. "And have fun!" Molly hugged her boys, then Harry, then Ginny, and Hermione. She thrust a bag of snacks into Remus's hands when Sirius wasn't looking and pressed a kiss into both of their cheeks before waving them all away. 

"Mum's decided that you're a far better choice to care for Harry than the muggles." 

"I must say, Ron, I'm rather inclined to agree with her." Sirius murmured conspiriatorally. "Remus?" 

"Quite." 

"Indubitably!" Harry and the twins half-shouted from ahead of them, and Sirius snorted, tapping Ron's nose with his wand and grinning in triumph as his hair turned fully red again. 

"Nicely done." Lupin muttered, smiling. 

"Thank you, professor." Sirius whispered, and grinned horribly as Lupin turned red. 

They tromped through the fields and little forest, Arthur at the lead and Remus and Sirius with an alternating teenager at the rear. With Harry walking between them, it was like walking with James down to the pond behind Remus's house, or across the grounds after classes. Sirius reached an arm around Harry's shoulder and Harry grinned, keeping up a steady stream of questions about his parents and how they'd fallen in love. 

"Well, the way I see it, Lily had the good sense to hex your father whenever he came within five feet of her up until sixth year. By then, James had for all appearances 'calmed down'. Of course, this was only slightly true. Mostly, it was that what he did do he no longer got caught doing between being able to shift and having the map." Remus told him, George and Fred not so far ahead that they couldn't hear, too. "When she found out he was an Animagus, it was as if he were an interesting specimen in Herbology and needed to be studied, for science." 

Harry snorted, and Sirius grinned. 

"So, wait, Harry; your dad was an Animagus? Wicked!" Fred and George chorused. 

"He could turn into a stag." Harry explained. 

"I expect I'll end up with a great black dog next year." Lupin whispered so that Harry and Sirius were the only ones who could hear him. 

"I expect so, professor." Harry laughed, looking up at Sirius who tried for all he was worth to look innocent--and failed miserably. 

They met with the Diggorys, and Sirius was pulled into a conversation about his innocence, shooting a desperate look to Remus and Harry as he was tugged along between the two Ministry workers. 

"We'll go save him, but not just yet." Remus assured Harry quietly. "Now, I feel we had a good year last year, Harry--" 

"We did, sir." 

"--but my being with your godfather isn't effected by how we work as student and teacher. I would quite like to be there, for the both of you, for however long you'll give me, Harry, but if you--" 

"Remus, as I understand it, you were my father's best friend if Sirius was his brother. And I can see how you make him happy. I want to learn what my father was like; and what better teacher to do that from than the one who's taught me more than any other teacher ever has?" 

Remus felt like he was about to burst, and Harry looked up at him steadily until he nodded, swallowing it down. "Ron asked if Sirius would teach you, Miss Granger, and he how to become Animagi." 

"Did he agree?" 

"He did, so I'd suggest you tell him if you want to." 

"What d'you reckon I'd be?" Harry asked quietly. 

Remus shrugged slightly, remembering the days before they'd all done this for him, thinking about whether Sirius had been in any way like a dog back then. "You seem so much like your father that I'd guess you'd be a stag, but don't quote me on that, because you have so much of your mother in you, too." 

"Mm? What do you think she would've been?" 

"Probably, something too smart for its own good." 

Harry went and saved Sirius then, allowing himself to be caught into a conversation about the proper function of a microwave. 

Sirius drifted slowly through the rest of the children, telling a probably lewd joke that even had Hermione laughing, before finally coming back to Remus's side as the others broke free of the brush to the top of a hill. The portkey was sitting there waiting for them, and Sirius wrapped his fingers through Remus's, looking at him in the gaining sunlight. 

"Love you," Remus whispered, kissing him while he could with no one watching. 

Sirius squeezed his hand in return, sighing gently as they joined the circle around the portkey. Harry had never been through one, but it was obvious the Hufflepuff, Cedric had. Cedric was standing next to Harry, and Sirius caught him looking slightly down at Harry, but not, as people usually ogled, on his scar. Diggory seemed to be staring at the brilliant green of Harry's inherited irises. Sirius looked over at Remus, and knew he'd noticed, too. Landing hard on the grounds, Harry was at Cedric's feet as he and the four older wizards dealt with the stomach-yanking flip-flop of a Portkey. 

"Mister Diggory, when you've gotten your boy through the heavy lifting, he can join our lot if he wants to." Remus called to Cedric's father, and Sirius met the boy's eye for just a moment, eyes kind as he coloured. 

"Come along, you lot! We've a tent to get to!" Sirius shouted, helping Ginny and Hermione to their feet while Cedric swung Harry and Ron onto theirs. 

"I would like to come by later," Cedric murmured to Harry, "If that's alright?" 

"Uh...yeah, sure. Remus, where are we?" Harry asked on his behalf, and Cedric took in the directions gravely. 

"You could use a locator charm if you need to." Sirius told him. "But take into consideration, while I was sent to Azkaban for twelve years on a crime I didn't commit, and Remus won't usually bite unless it's me he's biting; we're talking about the Boy Who Lived, and if you mess with him, you will have the entire wizarding world come down on your head." 

With a charming smile, Sirius caught up with the others, gathering Harry under his arm from where the boy had turned around to stare suspiciously at his godfather and the Hufflepuff Seeker. 

"He's the git that beat you in the first game of the season last year?" 

"He's not a git, Sirius. He won, fair and square." 

"He won because you got knocked off your broom by Dementors," Sirius scoffed, "that's not fair." 

"We won the Cup, Sirius. It doesn't matter." 

"It's my fault you lost the game, Harry." 

"You got me a Firebolt, Sirius. And now a house and a family. And we still won the Cup." 

Sirius sighed, "Fine, I'll give him slightly less of a hard time than I would, but--" 

"Cedric wanted to play a rematch, Sirius, it's Wood that wouldn't." Harry told him gently. "He's not really that bad." 

"'That bad'?" 

Harry looked down, avoiding his eye, "I dunno...I just...he stares at me. At my scar."

"Harry..." Sirius stopped himself, "I'd think he'd be smarter than to want to be friends with you for your fame alone." 

That he wanted to be more than friends went unsaid; that was something Cedric would have to deal with. "Ah! Here we are!" 

It was rather a larger tent than most they'd passed was awaiting them, but Harry watched in amazement as, one by one, everyone went into the tent that seemed like it would fit four at most. Harry went in after a moment's hesitation, and his eyes went wide, his mouth fallen open as he took in the rooms; Sirius and Remus claiming one, Hermione and Ginny another, leaving Harry and Ron in one and Fred, George, and Arthur in the last. 

"I'll admit this is roomier than the tent I'd intended. I'm glad. Four boys in a room with myself would have been nightmarish for me." Arthur clapped Sirius on the arm. 

"I had it left over from the War, actually. If there was a mission the order needed done with more firepower than usual, most of the Order would pile into this thing." Sirius told him in a prideful murmur, running his hand over the worn armchair Harry had flung himself into. 

"It's entirely possible Harry was conceived in this tent." Remus remarked, and there was a collective groan of complete disgust. 

"No, it isn't. James was not that good at silencing charms." Sirius told him in all seriousness. 

Harry was still pulling a face in disgust, but the others seemed to be over it, Sirius resisting the urge to turn into Padfoot as he threw himself down in front of Harry's chair, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. 

"Sirius, no. Bed, not floor." Remus scolded. 

"You two might as well get some rest. Merlin knows we won't get any tonight." Arthur laughed jovially. 

"Arthur, what about--" 

"Oh, no; I went to bed early last night, I'm right fit for it." Arthur waved them off. 

"We'll take the night shift for you." Sirius murmured, nodding to him. 

Remus plucked him up, bullying Sirius into the bedroom they'd claimed and shoving him into the bed, climbing practically on top of him and nuzzling into his warm neck with Remus's cold nose. Sirius laughed, shoving at him until they were comfortably entwined. "Pads, we should tell Harry about getting engaged..." 

"Not until I get you a ring." Sirius whispered, finding Remus's hand and bringing it to his lips, kissing along his ring finger. "I love you, Moony." 

"I love you, too." Remus whispered, pressing kisses to his jaw and cheek. "How is it that we're both exhausted?" 

"You came three times last night, Moony. Even for a werewolf, that's a bit much." Sirius laughed, kissing Remus's lips because he couldn't get enough of that. 

"So three orgasms from me equates to making up three years' worth of shagging for you?" Remus asked like he was calculating something, and Sirius moaned in protest, laughing. 

"It was good last night, Moony." Sirius purred. 

Remus hummed in agreement, but didn't let up on his point, "I'm not the one who should be taken apart and put back together, Pads." 

"I love taking you apart, though." 

"Still. You told me last night you'd take care of me...let me take care of you, Pads." Remus murmured, his mouth against Sirius's shoulder. Remus reached for his wand, pointing it first at the little door of their chosen room, muttering a silencing spell and erecting a matrix of blue light that would keep the world at bay for a few hours, before turning his wand on them and disrobing them both with a thought, pulling Sirius's naked skin against his with a greedy growl. Sirius hummed, hiding his face down against Remus's shoulder, nose buried in his neck. Remus hadn't done this so that they could have sex, he knew; he'd done this because he knew Sirius loved skin on skin even with the most wholesome of intentions. Words didn't often work quite the way Sirius wanted them to; but physicality he could better control. Remus knew he was the only one that could hold Sirius this way. He was the only one allowed. 

Sirius curved his hand over Remus's heart, letting his eyes drift closed. He didn't react as Remus leant up, dropping soft kisses over his throat and jaw, over his too-hollow cheeks and the closed sweep of his eyelashes. He let himself drift on the soft cup of Remus's hand around his jaw; the idle press of his whiskery kisses as Remus started to fall into the rhythm of Sirius's breathing, promising himself that he'd do everything in his power to love Sirius as well as he deserved from the moment they woke until Remus died. 

By the time his charm wore off and the noise from outside their little hideaway woke them, it was past noon and the half-hysterical laughter coming from the main room added up to Cedric having joined the lot of them. 

Groaning, Sirius nuzzled into Remus's chest, his arms tight around Remus's frame as he obstinately refused daylight. "You need to eat." Remus whispered to him, brushing a hand through his hair. 

Sirius groaned, nuzzling into Remus's chest and protesting that the hair-petting had stopped. 

"Come along, love." 

"Remus, don't hurt me in this way." 

Remus laughed, slipping out from under Sirius's clinging limbs to shift over, laying himself over Sirius's back to whisper in his ear, tracing the curve of his neck with Remus's nose. "Come along, darling. Harry Potter won't wait forever." Remus tapped Sirius's elbow with his wand, and Sirius was clothed as suddenly as he'd been undressed. 

Sirius sighed, turning his head against the pillow so that he could speak unmuffled, "He's already waited too bloody long, Moony."

Remus kissed the corner of his mouth, "You and I can do this, Siri. We will be here for whatever he needs, until our last. Get up, love." 

Sirius groaned, but rolled off the bed and stretched, his muggle clothes riding too high and too low in such a way that his pale stomach and jutting hipbones made an appearance. Remus smiled at him as Sirius bent down to kiss him, slow and sweet. 

"Diggory is here." Remus commented conversationally. 

"So he is. I've threatened him, feel like driving the point home?"

"No, I daresay you're efficient in that respect. I still remember when you threatened James about Lily." 

"He threatened me about you; it was mainly payback, because we all know she would've done worse than I ever could've." 

"He threatened you not to hurt me?" 

"Or bollocks this up in any way, shape, or form." Sirius told him merrily, pulling Remus in for a slow kiss. "I haven't, have I?"

"No." Remus laughed. They emerged from their room into the general chaos of a tent full of young wizards, Arthur asleep and snoring on the couch near the oven. 

Ginny, Fred, and George appeared to be having a summit in the corner, bent over a bit of parchment and murmuring. Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Cedric were directing a small squadren of miniature booms with their wands, obstensibly playing Quidditch in miniature. 

"Teams?" 

"Cedric and I are on our house teams, so Hermione and I against Ron and Cedric." Harry grunted as he urged his Keeper to dodge a small black dot and smack away a small red one from the three circular goalposts Cedric had drawn for them. 

"I conjured it, sir; the others aren't using magic." Cedric told Remus dutifully. 

"Good." Remus sighed. "Who's winning?" 

"We're up by ten points, but Harry's the better Seeker, so we're concentrating on making him work for it." Cedric swore as Hermione managed a goal with a delighted squeal. 

"Even now, then?" Sirius asked, laughing as he threw himself down in a dog hair-covered armchair, a book in his hands. Ron looked so disappointed in himself that Cedric laughed cheerfully, knocking his shoulder into Ron's. 

"Relax. Hermione's a secret weapon in her own right. You're a damn good Keeper, and you're doing brilliantly on the Bludgers." One of said Bludgers was whacked just right by Ron, headed for Harry's Seeker. Harry hesitated until the last moment before dodging it, Hermione drawing her Beaters into a vicious swing at Ron's Keeper, who managed to duck, but dangled off his little broom for a minute before he could pull himself back up. 

"Harry, you're going to be the Quidditch Captain, aren't you? I think you have two lovely candidates right here." Cedric laughed, then groaned as Harry's Seeker went into a dive that was miles ahead of Cedric's, the tiny glimmer of gold almost in Sirius's hair. 

Engrossed in his book, Sirius didn't notice the two Quidditch miniatures hurtling for his head until Harry's had leapt off his broom, abandoning it to crashing into Sirius's ear as the Seeker himself grappled through Sirius's hair with the Snitch in his hand. Hermione and Harry cheered rowdily, and there was more murmuring from the twins as money exchanged hands into Ginny's. 

Sirius laughed as he plucked the player out of his hair, examining him between two fingers. "Beautiful spell work, Cedric. You even got Harry's hair." 

"I can do every player of every team. It's a training exercise that's quite useful."

"Oi, Harry: what with you being Quidditch Captain, you should learn the ropes from young Cedric here." Fred teased, sitting back from the conference of redheads and steepling his fingertips together over his abdomen. 

"What are you lot plotting?" 

"Well, young Ginny was inspired by Ron's change of colour this morning. She's helping us to develop a range of charms to change one's hair colour to suit one's mood." 

"My cousin, Nymphadora Tonks, is a Metamorphagus. Prefered bright blue last time I saw her." Sirius told them. "You might consider where that sort of magic comes from." 

"It'd be lovely to talk to her." Ginny commented sweetly. 

"I'll see if I can't catch up with her." Sirius told her just as sweetly, and Remus smirked at the thought of Andromeda Tonks hearing from her cousin once again. 

"You and Andi are the two last Blacks to still have your sanity." Remus sighed almost as if he were sad. To see Sirius cut down through his whole family was what was troubling him: the loss of the Blacks particularly was not. Sirius's mother had been, Remus had always thought, some sort of House Elf-eating banshee; and his father had lost any respect Remus could have had towards him the first time he noticed the whip wheals of scars over Sirius's back in first year--and then the fresh crop of them after Sirius had returned from Christmas. When Remus had told his mother, she'd tried to find a way to save him, but they didn't have the money, and it was risky enough being friends with these boys when he was still hiding his werewolf side from them. Having Sirius come to live with them hadn't been an option, and Remus had found himself drifting on the edges of the group because of it. James became the centre; Remus thankful that James was able and willing to help Sirius, and Sirius all but adopted. Peter had gone with it, as he always had. 

Remus remembered the day, in second year, just after a particularly bad full moon, on the night of an eclipse that had fallen on a solstice. He remembered waking up to Madam Pomfrey's bustle and Sirius's shaggy black head asleep on his bandaged arm. Peter was asleep in another chair and James had trotted off to get books about both lycanthropy and Animagism. Sirius woke up and it was like the sun rising to watch him grin at Remus's eyes finally open. But Remus remembered the fear, and the tears. They'd figured him out; he would never be spoken to again. 

"Oi, Moony!" Sirius called Remus from his reverie, throwing a sandwich at his head. "Come watch me teach these youngins how to play chess while we dine sumptuously on Quidditch food. 

Lupin sighed, getting up and moving to the table with his sandwich in his hands. He summoned up a proper place setting complete with tea, and sighed as he sat down again, "Listen, you old codger: Ron got through an enchanted game of Wizard's Chess and Ginny's likely just as impressive, since she's the one Ron would've practiced with." 

Ginny pumped a fist in the air in solidarity, not bothering to look up as she started reading the Daily Prophet. "Ireland's going to win; Krum will get the Snitch." She told George, dropping her head back to look at him upside-down. He nodded to her, sharing a gleeful look with Fred. 

"Wassat?" Ron blurbled around a mouth over-full. 

Ginny regarded the brother closest to her in age with a subtle air of disgust, "Just having one of those... _feelings_." She emphasized, pulling the Prophet back up to hide behind. 

"I've heard of girls having--" Ron began, sounding equal parts disgusted and distressed. 

"No, you prat! You remember how she used to be able to tell where things were hidden, when to talk and when to sneak? This is like that. It's like Divination, but less bollocks."

"If our dearest darling sister hadn't told us what to bet, Fred and I wouldn't have started betting pools." 

"But she has, so we can!" Fred half-sang, nearly destroying the paper as he flung himself around her shoulders, very nearly taking her to the floor. Huffing, Ginny didn't last as long as she should've before she was grinning right back at them. 

"That's quite a gift. How do you fare finding things that were stolen?" Cedric asked, leaning towards Ginny. 

"You want to help Luna? I, uh...already have been." Ginny told him, shrugging sweetly once again. 

Cedric smiled at her, and they nodded to each other in recognition. 

"Luna?" Harry asked, head tilted slightly. 

"She's in my year," Ginny explained, "Ravenclaw, total free spirit, but her things have been stolen every year because the other Ravenclaws can't accept her." At the last, Ginny sounded just about wrathful.

"That's horrible!" Hermione gasped. 

"She came to me after the game last year and told me she'd seen the Grim in the clouds, and that I'd best be careful this year." At the mention of the Grim, Hermione looked rather fraught. "I don't believe that sort of thing normally; but she asked if I was aware my ears were clogged with Gglybnooms, did a spell and both my ears popped so hard that these white fluffballs came out. I helped her find her things last year, she's an interesting friend."

Harry smiled, "You'll have to introduce us..." 

"I will." Cedric agreed, "Though legend has it that you three have some kind of summit in whatever train compartment you choose about what mischief you'll be getting up to next." 

The three best friends looked at each other, "Well, we did talk about Sirius wanting to kill Harry last year..."

"The year before, Harry and I weren't even on the train." 

"And first year I only came by looking for Trevor." 

"It's a solid theory, though." Harry reasoned. 

"As someone who shared a compartment with the three of you last year, I can vouch that you really had no idea the extent to the trouble you'd be getting into, but that was a lack of information, not a lack of planning." Remus murmured sternly. He looked pointedly at Hermione over the top of his teacup as he took a long sip, knowing she was the closest to a weak link in the three of them. 

"Remus, you're off-duty: stop being a bloody professor and be my lover again." Sirius complained, knocking his knee into Remus's with a scowl. Remus glanced over at him, lips thin, and Sirius sighed dramatically. 

"Ron, beat him soundly." Remus ordered with a dangerous, teasing edge to his voice. Ron grinned, and gestured daringly to Sirius to make the opening move. Sirius swallowed a little more nervously, but took a deep breath and pushed on like the hard-headed git he was at heart. 

"Forgive me for asking, but I was very young when it happened: what was the Wizarding War like?" Cedric asked in an almost ashamed hush, his eyes wide. 

Remus swallowed, setting down the book Sirius had discarded. "Well, Mr. Diggory--" 

"J-Just Cedric, please, Professor." 

"Then for the time being, I'm Remus." The elder wizard smiled gently, laughter in his eyes. He licked his lips, looking at his fingers, "You grew up in a Wizarding family, so I daresay there's more to fill in the proverbial blanks than there is to really...tell. But Harry, I'm afraid, knows rather little and Hermione, for as book-brilliant as she is, will know the facts and very little else, so I would assume."

Remus paused, trying to gather himself, but the children took it as a pause for confirmation, and all three nodded, Ron looking sad and confused that he had known more than they had, "It's strange..." Cedric voiced Ron's thoughts, "Harry is the one who ended the war...and you know so little about it." Cedric met Harry's eye, brazenly staring instead of surreptitiously stealing glances. 

"I know more than he did." Hermione muttered, heartbroken all over again, "Just about his family." 

"You know more about everything, Hermione." Ron rolled his eyes, turning back to his game. 

Sirius snorted, glancing up at Remus with a challenge in his eyes to keep going. If there was one thing Remus was loathe to do, it was back down from a challenge Sirius posed. Remus cleared his throat, and the children startled, snapping attention back to him, though clearing his throat was simply preparatory to resuming the story. "The resistance--beyond the Ministry, composed of people who up kept but were willing to...bend the rules--was called The Order of the Phoenix, and it was run, as you may well have guessed, by Albus Dumbledore. The Order went under the Ministry, it ran to fight the war the Ministry was barely capable of batting at like a obese cat. There were many good witches and wizards who refrained from joining either side, for fear of their lives, but the Order provided those imbeciles with just enough sense to be careful and not enough sense to actually stay away from the fight with a safer alternative, because the Order was built to be both forceful and stealthy." 

Harry, Hermione, and Cedric all stole disbelieving glances at Sirius as he prodded his bishop into pulling an illegal move with an all-too-creative string of curse words about the piece's mother. 

Remus tried not to snort in laughter, composing himself and continuing on, "Dark Creatures were gathering under Voldemort for the promise of a greater equality, and general love of the carnage wrought under Voldemort's power. It made Creatures who sided with the proverbial angels suspicious. It gave Voldemort a decided advantage: centaurs, werewolves...creatures are stronger than wizards: greater propensity for healing; for being capable of taking curses and simply shaking them off. Being unable to trust those who claimed to be against Voldemort put a rift in power. The Order was more forgiving, of course, but faith can only take one so far. There was a prophecy, gathered in the height of the war, predicting...well, I can't say, no one but the witness can, but word reached Dumbledore that in the prophecy, we would find our victory. But word also reached Voldemort, and he began in earnest to hunt the Order. Frank and Alice Longbottom and Harry's parents went into hiding, both Alice and Lily pregnant, then new mothers. But Voldemort...was given their locations." He spat the phrase, his cheeks pale. "Lily and James died...and Alice and Frank were found by Bellatrix Lestrage and Bartimus Crouch Jr., the son of the man systematically sending Death Eaters to Azkaban. They were tortured out of their minds, and Bellatrix was taken to Azkaban; Crouch died before he could make it--" 

"So the story goes," Sirius interrupted, sitting back and looking away from the game he was losing like it didn't exist, "there were whispers...that Sr. broke his son out of his imprisonment." 

Remus's eyes flashed, sitting back himself. "Whispers?" 

"The Dementors were given a body: but they can't see--no proof it was him, and no body left to identify once they threw it from the island." 

"Crouch was less a judge than a glorified sentencer, Siri, I don't know that he would've let his son escape, blood or no." 

Sirius met Remus's gaze and he could see, despite his words, that he'd planted an idea that he'd hoped could be dismissed if Remus didn't see it, too. "I never knew...Neville never said..." Hermione whispered, tears in her eyes. "Oh, poor Neville. His uncle threw him from a window, once...to try to force him into showing magic. His gran takes care of him, but--oh, poor Neville." 

Remus reached over, wrapping a hand around Hermione's wringing fingers, looking pointedly from her to Harry, and smiling softly as she threw her arms around Harry's neck, hugging tight. He startled, coughing out a lock of her hair before his arms came around her, easing her down. "'M alright, Hermione." 

"Yes, now you are! You have Sirius and Remus now, those bloody, unimaginative, uncultured, pigheaded--" 

"I should've brought you with me the other night, Hermione. You would've been right proof against those blundering gits." Sirius barked a laugh, cheering with the twins as his last remaining pawn took out Ron's queen, falling into Ron's trap by doing so, because the next moment, he was swearing eloquently. 

Harry looked angry at his godfather, looking to Remus, "He snuck out, Harry. He's good at that." 

Sighing, Harry looked at Sirius, waiting for a moment as Ron gloated and Sirius swore before cutting in, "What happened, Padfoot?" He used the monicer to get Sirius's full attention, and his green eyes were remarkably stern behind his specs. 

"I went there to demand an explanation as to how a group of people, let alone family members can hear of the brutal murder of their kin and still be maliceful and deceitful enough to the memory of people who'd done nothing to them to to treat their _child_ in such an appalling and inhuman way. Being a recently cleared convict, they were right scared out of their minds until they figured out I must be a wizard, but I told them in no uncertain terms that they deserved every curse I could think of and more and unlike Hagrid, I'm allowed to use magic." Harry crossed his arms over his chest, and he looked remarkably like Lily with that stern set to his mouth, "I put a little hex on their yard, nothing more." 

Harry didn't let up. 

"I made the grass turn purple and spell out 'FREAKS'." 

Harry shook his head, sighing. "That's got to be some violation of some rule." 

"They know about magic, so it's not, really." Remus mused, clearly amused. "Why call them...?" 

"It's their favourite accusation." Harry told him. 

"I might've scrawled 'abusive assclowns', but I just couldn't get the sizing right." Sirius told Remus conversationally. Remus actually looked approving. 

"Don't." Harry ordered, snappish. Colour was burning in the tips of his ears, and Remus looked at him, a furrow growing between his brows. Cedric, sitting next to Harry, could see his clenched fists shaking slightly, hear the soft click of his breathing like he was fighting back tears. "If anything happens to you...if anything happens, I have to go back there, and I know it. Don't antagonize them." 

Sirius looked taken aback, Remus pale and horrified. Sirius moved so that he'd crouched beside Harry's chair, staring into his eyes, "Harry, nothing is going to happen to Remus and I." He whispered. 

"I already ended up with them once--" 

"Harry, nothing will happen to Remus and I. We've made it this far on dumb luck and the promise that you survived; I will not let this family slip through my fingers again." 

"I'm remarkably difficult to kill, Harry." Remus murmured, "And I will die before leaving you to them ever again." 

Harry's breathing was rather like Remus's had been during the panic attack, and Cedric pulled him up, moving them away and outside, giving him space. "I--" 

"You have to breathe." Cedric cut off whatever thing Harry thought he needed to do, "You need to breathe and then you can talk to them, okay? I think I thought of the question at the same time you did, but it will wait until after you breathe." 

"I don't want--" 

"Harry, I will never ever ridicule you for this. Anyone who would is a bloody heartless prat." 

Cedric held out his arms, and Harry ignored the awkwardness of it, letting himself be hugged as he broke down; better to hide his face anyway. 

Hermione climbed through the tent after a moment, and when Harry surfaced, she pulled him in, then Ginny as she appeared. Cedric kept a hand on his back as Harry pulled himself completely together, stepping back in to find Sirius leg-locked and Remus wringing his hands impatiently, Fred and George evidently acting as heavies as Ron told both grown men off from going after Harry. Harry walked over to his godfather and Remus took the spell off him, Harry helping him stand.

"You left me to them the first time." Harry murmured quietly. "And I understand that you couldn't have afforded a child...that you couldn't have taken me...but I was alone for eleven years, at their mercy, and I never knew that I had a godfather, or my dad had a best friend." 

"Harry, Dumbledore will not agree to me telling you this, but you'd ought to know." Remus started, and Harry nodded, the others there because Ron and Hermione would find out eventually, and the rest felt drawn to banding with Harry in case he needed them, "The night your parents died...the night your mother sacrificed herself for you, Dumbledore believed that in dying, she created a protection charm on you: a blood magic, the oldest kind, which by her love for you would protect you--has protected you. You were sent to your Aunt because she is the last of your mother's blood, Harry; and, in theory, it would be proximity to her that would keep that magic strong within you. But Dumbledore did not take into consideration that the blood magic Lily invoked doesn't deal in blood alone, or it didn't occur to him to think of it in the way I've learned it is. Blood magic requires a sacrifice, yes; but it also requires the basis of that sacrifice--" 

"Love." Harry figured, voice rough. "I had Ron and Hermione with the Stone and I burned Professor Quirell by touching him--" 

"Friendship is a form of love, yes. And Sirius and I loved your parents, Harry; when they had you, you were not simply theirs, you were the most-loved thing to either of us. The first babe in our group of bloodless brothers, Harry." 

"You've made Dumbledore see?" Harry asked, voice tight. 

"Yes. Even if something were to get past me and happen to Sirius, you would not be returned to those loveless excuses for humans, Harry. Not now." Remus told him. "And something will have to kill me to get to him, Harry. I won't let you be without your godfather, never again." 

Harry turned his head to Remus, the look on his face making it clear that he knew that Remus would not be without his godfather, either. 

Smiling gently, Remus offered a hug to Harry, and Sirius brought Harry in the moment they'd let go. "I was a fool, Harry. Remus is the brains of the operation." 

"Now you have him back, we'll be fine." 

"Sir, I'm sorry, but...how is it you knew more...?" Hermione asked shyly. 

Remus sighed, nodding, "It is rather unseemly to think that anyone would ever know better than Dumbledore, Hermione, you're right to ask that question. When I first got sick, when I was very young, my parents were desperate to cure me; to remove the responsibility it placed on my shoulders at too young an age. That's how I came to learn blood magic and the old ways that are all but illegal now." Sirius was holding his breath, hoping that the other shoe didn't fall, and he was acutely relieved when Cedric didn't ask just what illness had befallen the young Remus. 

Hermione looked miserable for having asked, but Remus brushed it off, falling into the chair beside Sirius's with an aged groan. 

"Always ask the question, Hermione. It will help you battle things like doubt and distrust. You can always ask; and whomever you ask may then choose to answer you or not." 

A small smile began to sprout, "I like that." She whispered, and Remus nodded to her. 

"Now, we'd do well to start towards our seats." Remus announced, "Cedric, it's been lovely visiting, if you need to go to your father--" 

"I should. But I'll see you in the stands soon enough." He smiled to Harry, who grinned back, the younger range of their group quite taken with him. Sirius and Remus shared a look over Harry's head as Ginny and Hermione went to wake Arthur. 

Trouping down towards the arena, Sirius took the lead, rousing the entire gaggle of mostly underage wizards, one Ministry worker, and even the werewolf in a spirited chorus of a very dirty version of the old Ireland fight song, picking up hats and pennants as they went. 

"So, Ireland to win, but Krum to catch the Snitch." Harry murmured in Ginny's ear, and she grinned, nodding. Harry flagged down the twins, putting everything he had on him onto Ginny's prediction, and Remus caught his eye, one brow raised, before flagging the twins down to do the same. Ginny was bright pink, but she was still smiling. 

Sirius's incarceration had granted him the power to more or less demand a box better, even, than Cornelius Fudge's. The rowdy lot of them continued their revelry with Cedric and his father joining their ranks, then past Lucius Malfoy and Draco, glaring heatedly as they passed them into the box howling like rabid dogs. 

Cedric's ears were red as he finished the chorus of Sirius's fight song, and Harry was grinning at him. "This is more fun than I've had in a while." Cedric admitted. 

"Stick with us, mate." Ron cackled, voice hoarse. Sirius and Arthur were passing around butterbeers and snacks, everyone a din of multiple conversations and people struggling to be sitting with the people they were talking to. Ginny was in some sort of tug-of-war with her body as the rope, George having her under the arms and Sirius and Remus dramatically putting on a show of tugging her by the ankles, Ginny laughingly telling them that she could feel herself getting taller. 

"Oi!" Sirius bellowed above the yelling and laughing, summoning silence, "Part of the deal was a photograph for a puff-piece in the Prophet. The blood-sucking reporter will be here any moment, whoever gets the rudest hand-gesture wins!" 

Laughter erupted, the noise resuming as Sirius threw himself into the empty seat beside Harry, Remus pouring himself into the one beside Sirius. Ron and Hermione were behind them, Cedric on the other side of Harry, and Ginny ultimately squished between the twins, her head tipped back to talk to Harry from where her head rested on his knees. 

"Until last year, I didn't think I had a gift at all." Ginny was explaining, "But then Fred and George listened to me when I told them you'd be looking for a way out of the castle, and then who would win what Quidditch games. Then it just got stronger, and I found myself helping Luna and Neville find their things. I had a feeling with Riddle's diary...I just never trusted it." 

He nodded, looking thoughtful, "Tell me next time you get that feeling, hm?" 

Ginny nodded, her features twisted sardonically. As the stadium exploded in sound, Ginny looked back up properly. 

The reporter strode in during Fudge's opening address wearing a poisonous yellow skirt suit and was accompanied by a photographer and a floating quill already scribbling as she dictated to it. "Oh! The happy family and all their little friends!" Remus caught Harry's eye and rolled his own. "Sirius Black, the ruggedly handsome--" 

"Rita Skeeter. I remember you from school." Sirius cut in, his voice enough to cut her off and make her go pale. He raised a brow at her reaction, "Either you think I'm guilty, or you remember school as well as I do." 

Sirius smiled frightfully, his dark eyes glinting. "Mr.--Mr. Black..." 

"Sirius Black, wrongfully convicted and heroically saved, sits with godson, Harry Potter and long-time friend, Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, Remus Lupin. Mister Arthur Weasley, Head of the Department of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts would probably be more than willing to confiscate a Confounded Quick Quotes Quill that doesn't quote a word correctly from anyone but you." Remus threatened darkly. 

Rita Skeeter looked like Death at a baby shower, "I remember the four of you...always with your secrets--" 

"Secrets that, no matter how you tried, you could never quite get to." Sirius replied calmly, smugly, "Now, Miss Skeeter, I have a Quidditch match to watch with my godson and his friends. And if I read one word from you about any of us that isn't backed up as fact, I'll hex that quill so badly you'll never write another word." 

Rita pursed her lips, letting the group of them rattle off their names and then turning her attention back to Sirius, trying to make her questions fluffy with the kind of distaste that spoke of a wish to have tried to 'scoop' the real truth of Sirius Black's reintegration into Wizarding life, to get the tears and trials captured all too overwroughtly by her quill. 

Ginny looked up at Harry once she'd left in a flick of ridiculous righteousness, "Harry, don't let her near you." 

Harry nodded silently at the advice, feeling no need to do anything of the sort; Sirius wouldn't interview about his life post-Azkaban or during, and Harry doubted he'd ever see the woman again. 

Sirius slid his hand into Remus's as the others oohed and ahhed at the Irish entrance, catching Leprechaun Gold out of the air and laughing. "Vile girl turned into a worse woman..." 

Remus admonished Sirius quietly, the sound lost in the din, "You're too protective of me, Sirius." He murmured. He leaned in, but Sirius shook his head minutely. 

"I wouldn't put it past her to be spying, Remus: can't--" Sirius was cut off as Remus kissed him, with abandon and relish. 

"She can spy all she likes, Siri, you are mine." 

"Gross." Ron commented drily, flopping back into his seat. 

"Try living with them." Harry laughed, suffering Sirius elbowing him in the ribs and pulling him under his arm, thoroughly ruffling his hair. 

"Mum and Dad are bad enough..." 

"What was that, Ronald?" Arthur asked pointedly. 

"He's complaining because George and I once sent him into your room...while Ginny was being conceived, actually." Fred commented happily. Arthur turned an interesting shade of parental concern, and Sirius was half fallen out of his seat in snorting laughter. 

Ron looked horrified, obviously not remembering that. 

Remus shook his head, and together, they all started yelling as Ireland and Bulgaria finally met each other over the pitch. 

Sirius stole a glance at his godson as they all cheered wildly, and the sheer happiness in Harry's face made Sirius feel overcome. Remus, who'd only ever been interested in Quidditch when Sirius and James had been on the Gryffindor house team, settled in, enjoying the merriment going on around them: Watching Sirius and Harry, both unconsciously so like James, jump and shout and celebrate goals for either side. 

"Could be uncle and nephew, those two." Arthur laughed, tracking what Remus was watching. "Don't like the Quidditch?" 

"When I have someone invested, I love it. Sirius was a Beater, James a Seeker--now Harry. Watching like this," Remus shrugged, "not as intense." 

Arthur nodded, "Haven't gotten to go to any of Harry's games yet. Molly and I've been meaning to." 

"He's something to watch." Remus laughed kindly. "Brings me back to the days I used to wonder if James hadn't charmed his damn glasses to light up every time the Snitch was in range." 

Arthur laughed, then yelled as a Bludger took out two Chasers and a Keeper, on his feet with everyone else. He saw the Bludger change course, the three players at the least unconscious. The Bludger was headed for the stands, and it wasn't a heartbeat before Remus was flinging the crowd of them to the ground, leaping in front of Harry, the Bludger impacting with his chest hard enough that bone was shattered. Screams; hands pulling him this way; tears; Sirius's voice a sonic boom as he cursed the Bludger out of the air, and Arthur Weasley and Hermione murmuring healing charms. 

"Arthur, let me: go Apparate to Madam Pomfrey. Get Dumbledore to create a Portkey; call up Minerva to come with Poppy to help protect the children. Go!" Sirius ordered, and Remus wanted to open his eyes, but he couldn't. "Cedric, Ron; Fred, George, Ginny, protect Harry. Remus's going to okay, Harry, but you need to keep yourself safe, for his sake, eh?" 

Remus tried to lick his lips, to swallow and speak, but all he could taste was blood. He knew the sensation of Sirius's magic on him, and Hermione was doing beautifully instructing him, he'd have to commend her on that. "What...what is that?" Harry asked. 

Remus's insides twisted, his eyes trying to open again as Sirius answered him solemnly, "The Dark Mark." 

*~*

"If he were anyone else, Mr. Black, he would be dead. As it is, though, I have had to remove his ribcage and administer Skele-Gro. His internal organs were beginning to regrow around the bone fragments that had ribboned them, but he's on the mend, albeit heavily medicated and on bed rest for at least two weeks." Poppy Pomfrey informed Sirius primly, and Remus was relieved to feel that he was in the Hogwarts Hospital Wing instead of St. Mungo's. 

"Harry?" Remus managed to croak, feeling as though those bone shards must have taken up some residence in his throat. 

The curtains nearly came down Sirius whipped them away so hard, and Madam Pomfrey stood at his elbow, lips pursed that Remus had managed to fight through the thorough doping. "Remus," Sirius was tear-streaked, haggard like he hadn't been even in the Shack. Remus wanted to reach for him, but if Poppy Pomfrey caught him so much as twitching, she'd knock him on his ass. "Harry's alright, Remus; you saved his life, you bastard. He's with the Weasley's for the night. Poppy almost had to jinx them all into leaving before they'd agree to go. Remus, you heroic git, you couldn't just knock the both of you out of the way?" Sirius had started crying again, collapsed into the visitor's chair by the bed. "You landed on Harry, but you only broke his nose and glasses. The Bludger would've painted itself in his brains--" 

"Mister Black," Poppy admonished forcefully, "if you wish to remain here, you will refrain from adding stress to the miriad other issues afflicting my patient." 

Remus smiled brokenly, "Brought me here..." 

"St. Mungo's treats you like some sort of bloody spectacle. A werewolf who's well-adjusted." Sirius snorted, and Remus was the only witness to Poppy's small swell of pride. "Had I not brought you here, Minerva would've had my head and anyone who dared treat you so foully." 

"What happened? The Dark Mark was...?" 

"After I blew up the Bludger, there was too much chaos to identify who conjured it. Krum had been catching the Snitch, like Ginny'd said he would, and it was only our end of the stadium who saw the Bludger take out those players. When I made it explode and the Dark Mark was conjured, it was an absolute riot of fear and confusion. The noise, unfortunately, drew the attention to our end. When I stopped it, it was swinging back round for another go at our son." 

"No one else got hurt?" Remus croaked, and Sirius pulled to the bed, gently helping Remus to drink the slow stream of water he was conjuring. 

"The three players are dead." He murmured, "You very nearly didn't make it here." 

"I'll heal, Sirius. You heard Poppy." 

"Too bloody close, Remus." Sirius kissed his forehead, then breathed against his hair. "I can't leave you and Harry alone. I won't." 

"I'd best get a dog collar then, hm?" Sirius smiled at Remus's attempt at making him feel less like his world was barely hanging on, nodding to him. 

Sirius lifted Remus's hand off the bed, laying his head down against the covers and letting Remus's hand fall into his hair, staring up at him while Remus curled his fingers in the wild, dark hair. "Do you know how much I love you?" 

Remus nodded as much as he could, remembering again the day Sirius and James had decided to become Animagi for him. Sirius and he hadn't even begun, but it was Sirius that had overruled Peter's fears and Remus's concerns. It'd been Sirius who'd announced that Remus had to be taken care of, and this was how to do it. James had sat back, smirking the whole time, while Sirius plowed through the objections. Remus should have known then that James knew something they didn't. Something he didn't. And, of course, James had; Sirius was an open book to him, and that he loved Remus was evident, though Sirius wouldn't know for another two years. 

Sirius's hand was suddenly in Remus's line of sight, the long, graceful fingers cool as he laid his hand over Remus's eyes, closing them, "Everything must hurt now, my love. Stop thinking and stop fighting what Poppy's given to make you sleep. I'm not going anywhere, and Harry will be here to see you in a couple of hours." 

"I love you." Remus whispered, voice giving so that it was more of a mouthing of the words. Sirius's hair left Remus's grasp, and Sirius's mouth pressed against his as he returned the sentiment, and kissed him as though he could take the pain away. Remus found, in the press of Sirius's lips to his, it was likely that Sirius really could. 

When Remus resumed consciousness again, it was Dumbledore in Sirius's chair, and Sirius was a sleeping Padfoot on Remus's undamaged legs. 

"I suppose we're all lucky that you mate has the fortitude to keep his head faced with both you and Harry mortally threatened."

"Luck has nothing to do with it, headmaster." Remus replied, "He was an Auror and a high-ranking member of the Order." 

"Smart and brave and, uh, _doggedly_ loyal. That's why I never suspected him. The American Muggles have a vocation for men like Sirius, called the Secet Service, though they are in no way secret. 'Bullet-catchers' for important Muggle figureheads. Absurd, but--"

"Sir? What is your point?" Remus asked tetchily. 

Dumbledore's blue eyes glinted in the little light of the bedded-down hospital wing. "My point is that I'm proud of you for saving a student, Professor Lupin." 

Remus's features looked confused, then crumpled into anger, "I am not merely a teacher." 

"Ask yourself, Remus, would you really have been able to let Sirius rot if you loved him as much as you think you do?" 

Dumbledore had risen; taking his leave, but Remus had strength enough to back-hand his own response, "Consider, headmaster, that you have a man turned traitor twice in your employ, and you never even fought to have Sirius properly tried?" 

Dumbledore half-turned, but continued his ghostly stroll away. The door closed and Padfoot shifted his great head between Remus's knees, dark doggy eyes looking up at him significantly. 

Remus sighed, "There's something afoot, Pads." He agreed. Padfoot stood up on the bed, shifting back into Sirius, who curled around Remus's legs. 

"I don't like this, Moony. I can't trust your safety to anyone!" 

"Pads, I'm a grown man. One little incident of Bludger-catching for our son does not mean I can't take care of myself." 

"Our son." Sirius echoed, looking up at Remus from his knee. 

Remus huffed, "Get up here, you prat." He ordered softly, and Sirius pushed his head into Remus's waiting hand, humming happily as Remus tugged and petted through his hair. "We have to keep careful watch of Harry. The Tri-Wizard Tournament is this year, and...my ill-divining heart is screaming that Harry will be in trouble." 

"He's too young for the Tournament, Remus." Sirius yawned. "And if he even thinks about trying to sneak his name in, I'll...well, I don't know what I'll do, but when I think of something, it'll be horrible." 

Remus laughed, watching Sirius's dark hair against his pale fingers. "The twins won the betting pool." He murmured. 

"You and Harry won, too, judging by the sack of gold Fred presented me with." 

"How did you end up with Harry's winnings, too?" Remus half-chuckled. 

"He was being prodded by Poppy to make sure nothing else was broken. And he'd been given a mild sleeping draft because he had the look in his eye that said he'd hurt himself enough to stay if he wasn't given permission to stay with you." James had had that look. "Only reason he's not here is because Molly wouldn't hear of him staying here." 

Remus grinned at that, "Good." 

"What can I do to help you, Moony?" 

"Nothing Poppy would allow." 

Sirius chuckled, crawling up just enough to tug the blanket down and nudge up Remus's night shirt, pressing kisses to Remus's pudge, nuzzling the bruised skin. Remus hummed, and Sirius pressed his open mouth to the worst of the bruises, the heat and the gentle swipe of tongue making Remus moan happily. Sirius wrapped their hands together, laying his cheek against Remus's hip. 

"I'm okay." Remus answered the silent agony pouring off of Sirius. "Better for having you here to take care of me." 

"You've no idea, Remus." Sirius told him shakily, "Your chest was...it was pulverized. Hermione saved your life, or you would've bled out almost immediately, even with the wolf in you healing the wounds. I owe her...Merlin, Remus; she saved you, so I owe her everything I could possibly have to give." Sirius took a rattling breath, cutting off as Remus reached down his hand to tug comfortingly on Sirius's hair. Sirius turned his face into Remus's hip, his words a muffled mess, "The Diggory boy picked Harry out from under you and patched him up, put himself between where the Bludger was and Harry. The children, Remus, they were like an honour guard. I've never been so proud in my life as when Fred and George broke the table so they could use the legs as Beater's bats." 

"They're good. You'll love watching the games, Pads: Harry's amazing." 

"I could hear you telling Arthur," Sirius murmured. Remus looked down at him, and Sirius smiled, "I can always hear you above anything else, Moony." He reminded gently. 

There weren't many bonuses to being the mate of a werewolf, but Sirius loved him even so. "What does it feel like, Sirius? You always used to tell me it felt like what coming home is meant to feel like, every time I walked in a room--" 

"That's it, Moony. It's like taking that freshly-baked-bread breath of air and being warm and loved. Like having iced tea in summer sun, so cold it'll make your toes curl." Sirius told him, words and mouth against his skin again. 

"You get so poetic when I ask you that." Remus teased on a rough breath. 

Sirius shrugged one shoulder, "I had a lot of time to think about it, as all those memories were torn from me, one fingernail at a time, Remus. You, they couldn't take. At first I thought it was down to the guilt; but now I think it's more likely that you and I are two sides of a coin, my love." 

Remus took a shaky breath, "I can't love you more than I already do." 

"I used to tell myself that, before James finally locked us in a room together. But then you'd smile or be a sardonic know-it-all and I'd hurt just a little more for not having you." 

Remus swallowed. "Merlin, but we owed James." 

"Owe Harry." 

"Do you believe in me, Siri?" 

"I do. Always have. That was never a question." Sirius answered immediately. "What about you?" 

"It's not you I'm worried about: you'll be brilliant raising Harry." 

"Don't let the old codger under your pretty skin, Remus: you are more man than anyone but Minerva and the Marauders thought you'd become." Remus's lips twitched, amusement in the dark shadows of his eyes, "Do you remember the thrashing she put Minkus through when he started in on that anti-werewolf nonsense fourth year?" 

"I still can't believe you put that listening charm on her office." Remus groaned. 

"She knew, you know: she told me at the end of the year that it was kept there precisely so that you would hear her and know that she believes in you." Remus looked disbelieving, and Sirius barked a husky laugh, "Ask her if you don't believe me." 

"James and I figured a way to help her intercept the howlers you mother would send." Remus told him. 

Sirius laughed softly, "I'd wondered. Knew you had something to do with it. That why you used to make us late to breakfast every morning fifth year?" 

"That and I wanted to wake you up sucking you off, but, you know, James made that a special consideration." They both laughed, and Remus noted that it didn't hurt too badly. 

Of course, being mated to a wolf was different from being a mated wolf: Remus benefitted in all sorts of unfair ways, and he wished he could affect as much change of Sirius and his body's ability to take care of itself. With Sirius wrapped around him, Remus was healing so much faster, even, than most wolves would without a mate. 

"Hermione...she didn't perform the magic, did she? She's not in trouble?" 

"No, Moony. And I wouldn't have let her anyway. I know you can sense whose magic is whose, and Arthur was doing enough that you might've managed to pierce through that you don't trust the user." That had happened, before: Remus hadn't know Lily's magic, wasn't used to the feel of it, and before he'd been able to stop himself, he'd forced it to backfire. Sirius had had to explain on the fly, how Remus had been able to shield the magic with his wand still upstairs in the dorms, waiting for him. Remus had felt terribly; she'd only been trying to dry him off, but if he couldn't recognize the feel of the user who was casting magic on him, instinct was not to let it be cast. Another reason, Remus had no doubt, that Sirius had brought him to Poppy. 

"I've been familiarizing myself with the students' magic, Sirius, but--" 

"I understand; so did she. She _knew_ , Remus."

Remus laughed mirthlessly, "I should've known she would." 

"I hadn't thought that part was in most of the texts yet; too unproven." 

"You try having eight men firing on you and see how you fare picking out the magic you recognize and the magic you don't." 

"How does that make it proven?" 

"The word was that it wasn't meant to: the thing was a sham to kill us off. Bollocks, of course, but it got the right loons up in arms, and that's a part of the werewolf arsenal still just barely ours." 

Sirius sighed, but there was a sharp popping noise from outside the ward, echoing down the dead-silent hall, and Sirius rose slightly, ready to defend, as the door freaked open heavily. It was Cedric and Harry, neither boy splinched, thank Merlin, but both decidedly not bunked in the Burrrow. Sirius got up in one of the inexplicable displays of grace that didn't jostle Remus one bit, hugging his godson as the boy ran down the hall, Cedric ghosting quietly behind him. 

"Couldn't sleep, so I convinced Cedric to bring me here." 

"Can't Apparate on school grounds..." Sirius murmured questioningly. 

"I made a Portkey," Cedric began, "but, uh, that popping noise was it bursting into flame." 

"Harry can be very persuasive." Remus murmured sternly, and Harry seized his hand, falling in a tangle of limbs into the chair. "You're not to do anything like that again--" 

"Yeah, well neither are you." Harry replied immediately, glaring at Remus. "Your chest was collapsed--" 

"You just took a Portkey that I'm betting was the first Cedric's ever produced." Remus didn't budge an inch. 

"Hermione looked over the charm work, and I trust them." 

"Hermione's first Portkey was this morning!" 

"Harry, risking your neck would rather make Remus's injury for naught, wouldn't you say; Remus, the boy had your broken and bleeding body on him not eight hours ago, bloody well loosen up and let him see you're alright." Sirius cut in, eyes glinting hard as he glared at them both, tight-lipped. Harry looked a little repentant and Remus a sighed, squeezing Harry's hand gently. 

"I am okay." 

"You look a right sight better than okay considering the last time I saw you." Harry muttered with a smile. 

"I'm a quick healer." Remus groaned, shifting slightly to take pressure off of the area that seemed to be rebuilding itself if the nasty prickling was anything to go by. 

"I told you about Lockhart and the Skele-Gro, right?" 

"I don't think you did." Sirius answered, gathering two more chairs for himself and Cedric and taking Remus's hand as he sat. 

"This particular rouge Bludger was set after me by Dobby, the house elf of the Malfoys, to try to get me injured enough to send me away from school so that I wouldn't be killed with the Basilisk." Harry began, and Cedric's smile was playing at the corners of his mouth, hearing for the first time what had all gone on. 

"This Lockhart fellow's the one that wiped his own memory?" Sirius confirmed once the story was coming to its conclusion. 

"My predecessor." Remus answered, laughing. "No wonder you lot are so happy to have me: he sounds an utter imbecile." 

"He was, but you're still a sight better than Quirrel." Harry pointed out. 

"I was here for a while before that, you're the best we've had since I started." Cedric told them.

"Enough ego coddling for one night." Sirius had dropped his voice to a hiss, "Madam Pomfrey--" 

"Is quite capable of shooing students on her own, thank you, Mr. Black. Mister Potter; Mister Diggory, Molly Weasley must be beside herself with worry." Poppy admonished, striding to the bed in nightclothes and curlers. 

"We asked Miss Granger to tell her once Molly wakes." Cedric answered smoothly. 

Poppy paused in fluttering over Remus. "Miss Granger is a brilliant young witch. I wouldn't mind asking her just how she came up with a spell that would stem the bleeding in the way she did." Both young men nodded, and she let a tiny curl of a smile peek out, "I'm sending an owl to the Burrow nonetheless. An attempt was just made on your life, Potter, you should have learned by now that galavanting is not best practice post-near death." 

"Yes, ma'am." Harry ducked his head slightly, and she clucked, pulling his head back to examine his nose. 

"You are all rather lucky you're well-loved." 

"I'd be dead." Harry volunteered. 

"Same." Remus agreed. 

"Imprisoned or dead. I think I'd rather be dead, so, knowing my luck..." Sirius nodded philosophically, and Harry winced. 

Remus tugged on Sirius's hand, his eyelids fluttering slightly, and Sirius sighed, standing up and bending over the bed to press a kiss to his forehead, rubbing his free fingers along Remus's cheek. He helped Remus sit up and drink, and then laid him back down, pulling the blankets up around him and easing his captured hand free from Remus's sleepy grasp. Instead, pulling his chair closer, Sirius laid his palm against Remus's forehead, fingers petting idly through his hair, and turned his attention to the boys. 

His voice was quiet and measured as he began to speak, and Remus's breathing evened out to the sound of his voice, like Sirius knew it would. He told Harry in murmurs about his parents and their courtship; how badly James wanted Lily and how Lily made him work for it, every day, to make sure he never acted with her the way he did with anyone else. The sun rose outside and Remus was asleep under Sirius's hands as Harry, Cedric, and Sirius talked about Hogwarts and the rumours that had plagued both Sirius, in his time, and then Harry. By the time the Weasley brood tumbled into the hospital wing, Sirius had curled up, human, against Remus's legs, keeping in contact to help him heal. 

Harry suffered the scowl without remorse for having found a way to his family, and Molly forgave him too quickly for real anger to have been. She hugged him tight, looking at Cedric over his shoulder and pulling the older boy aside to tell him what instructions his parents had given her to tell him. 

Ron and Hermione sat around Remus's bed, neither of them reacting to Sirius being human and curled up much like Padfoot would. It was a silent agreement that his abilities to turn into a dog, for the time being at least, needed to be kept to the few that needed to know. 

Remus smiled from under the table erected to help him eat, his eyes warm when he looked at Hermione. "I'm given to understand that you saved my life, Miss Granger." She turned petal pink, and she opened her mouth to protest, but neither Remus nor Harry would let her get that far, "You have an affinity for healing charms, if Madam Pomfrey is to be believed." 

"I...Before I got my letter...I wanted to be a surgeon. A Muggle healer." She admitted. 

"Brilliant." Remus praised, "Absolutely brilliant." 

Sirius snored slightly from where he was curled, and Harry snorted. "I only...Well, Muggles will clamp a vein if it's been severed. It was simple, really, and I'm sure Madam Pomfrey could have done loads--" 

"The point is, Hermione, I did not have Madam Pomfrey on hand to save my life. I had you. And you did miraculously. Thank you." 

Harry turned to her, "Start getting used to it now: Sirius is going to be at least twice as bad once he wakes." 

She laughed, and it sounded close to a sob, Harry pulling her in and hugging her. 

Ron shook his head at the foolishness of it, patting her wild hair with a sad expression, "Bloody well ought to be used to it, Hermione: it's not like you don't save our lives enough to know you're going to get bombarded with gratitude." 

"That's the point," she sniffed, "you two are bloody ungrateful." The three of them started laughing, and Hermione sat back, wiping at her eyes. 

Molly Weasley bent forward and kissed Remus's forehead as she would one of her sons', her hands full of a pot of what Remus could only guess would be soup to help him feel better, despite the fact it was broken bones and not a head cold laying him up. Arthur ambled forward, looking a little rough around the edges, and Remus smiled, "I'm fine. Better than, now. Poppy's taking right proper care of me, and Sirius and Harry being within sight helps the nerves enough I could sleep some. Does the Ministry have any idea who the culprit is?" 

"Not precisely. I was given time off because I was with you in the box, but the Minister is more concerned with smoothing it over than he is with solving it. Short of having someone like Sirius to pin the blame on, I don't know that he can do much more than spin his wheels, as the Muggles say." 

"Someone who's escaped from Azkaban and a supposed Death Eater, you mean?" Sirius mumbled, still apparently half-asleep. 

"Yes. Hush." Remus replied. Sirius huffed softly, groaning as he settled back to sleep. "I love you, too." He chuckled, and Sirius smiled. 

"Fudge invited the ex-Death Eaters himself, Remus. It's no wonder why he's, as Arthur says, spinning his wheels." Sirius pointed out. 

"You think it was Malfoy and the like?" 

"You have any better ideas?" 

"Lucius Malfoy's gone missing." Arthur whispered, "Missed an appointment with Fudge and that Rita Skeeter woman who's covering the aftermath of what happened." 

Sirius's eyes flashed up to Remus, then onto Arthur, his face angular with the growing weight of his unease. 

"Siri, I swear to Merlin, if you don't sleep, I will get Poppy to sedate you." Remus kicked him in the arm, scowling down at him, and Sirius grunted, rolling his eyes. 

"Tyrant!" 

Remus laughed, but Sirius settled. Harry crept over to the bed opposite, grabbing up the blanket and carrying it over to Sirius, Molly plucking it up and covering Sirius with a mothering flourish. "Thank you." Remus whispered. "Now, as much as I love the company to my misery, I'd much rather you all be off enjoying the last of your holidays. Sirius will be home tonight, so Harry can sleep in his own bed."

"I don't...a book would do me, Remus." Harry protested immediately. "I don't want you to be alone." 

"I've Sirius, Harry. Go and enjoy your summer!" Remus waved him away, "Sirius can suffer inside with me, I want you to have a summer you can enjoy." 

"Besides, at the rate my Remus is healing, he'll be home with us tonight. Though on full bedrest if I have to spell the sheets to keep him there myself." Sirius mumbled. "Go, Harry. Have fun." Harry caught Remus's hand, squeezing once in thanks before catching Sirius's. 

Sirius smiled sleepily, sighing as he listened to the wild lot of them disappear once more. "Do you really think I can come home tonight?" Remus whispered. 

"I should think so." Madam Pomfrey bustled, carrying Molly's carafe of soup in from seeing the lot of them off. "But, as Sirius says, Remus; bedrest. You heal better in contact with him, it's the only reason I'm letting you out." 

Remus chuckled, thanking her as she took away the breakfast things. 

Sirius watched, and when she'd finally taken herself about the chores to ready the wing for a new school year, Sirius shifted into Padfoot, laying his muzzle just where Remus's thigh met his groin, looking up at him through puppy eyes. Remus smiled; the expression no less battered and abused than it had been a hundred times before, in this very room, after a moon. He reached down, laying a hand over Sirius's muzzle and sighing with a wince at the movement of his ribs--the enchantment keeping everything in place and the Skele-Gro working against him at this stage. Padfoot whined in the back of his throat, and Remus hushed him, relaxed on the bed and quietly yawning. 

"Go to sleep. You need it, old man." He muttered. "I plan on putting you through your paces taking care of me." He teased, and Padfoot smiled at him, tongue lolling out of one side of his mouth, "This puts a kink in the plans I had for you for the rest of the summer, I'll admit. Physical exertion with Harry out of the house, for one thing, but I suppose since I had my office fire hooked up to ours for Floo--directly, I might add, so it's completely secure--I'll get plenty of opportunity if I'm not too worn out during the year." Padfoot managed to roll his eyes, and Remus snorted, impressed. 

Remus turned his attention to the door as it opened, Minerva McGonagall bustling through with an arm-load of books and a kind smile once she spotted him. "Remus, good to see you awake." 

"Hello, Minerva." He greeted merrily. She sat herself down on the chair closest, and laid a hand on his arm, her eyes bright. She glanced down at Padfoot and one eyebrow went up, a small smirk pulling at her lips. 

"Hello, Black. Also good to see _you_ , though I'd much rather be commending you on keeping him safe and sane than talking to you both over yet another hospital bed." 

Padfoot wuffed, the look in his eyes communicating a hearty 'what can you do?'. 

"Safe and sane is a tall order, Minerva. I'll settle for sane." Remus chuckled, "What can I do for you?" 

"Back again to safe and sane, Remus. I brought some books for you. You can have Sirius read them to you when he's that way inclined." Padfoot shot her a look of doggy confusion, and she laughed at him, "As if I weren't aware the only reason he passed with the NEWTs he did was because you forced him to read you every textbook you two shared the class of." 

Remus turned a little pink around the ears, and Padfoot wuffed in amusement, his head falling to Remus's thigh so that he could easily watch them both. "I've always wondered what markings are unique to him, but I've never had the eye to tell." 

"He used to run moons with you, if the rumours are true." Minerva looked just a little scolding as Remus nodded, and she focused on Padfoot, "It is difficult, I'll give you that: black dog, after all. You'd probably have to shave the dog to tell." 

Padfoot's head came up, his eyes as affronted as they could be in the face of a dog. Minerva rolled her eyes at him, shaking her head fondly. 

"I'll admit, I wondered for the longest time what the three of them were up to. When they pulled away from you in second year, I feared the worst. I knew they'd been to see you in the hospital wing, that one moon Poppy was consulting for St. Mungo's..." 

"They'd figured it out...and they were figuring a plan of attack in such a way that I couldn't argue. Those days, Peter or, more rarely, James would hang around me for a while, just enough to let me know that I wasn't out completely. I'd thought it was pity until I woke up one morning with this mutt trapping my legs to the bed." 

"So soon...I hadn't thought--" 

"Sirius was the first. James and Peter had a harder time of it. They took longer. But Sirius...he was able to transform by Halloween of third year. James by midsummer, then Peter the next year. Sirius would spend moons with me as much as he could without the others when they didn't yet know. Sometimes, James would hang back to help teach Peter. Let me and Padfoot here run free." 

"And James was a stag?" Minerva asked in confirmation, "Can't say I would have pegged him for such a noble creature, not that young." 

"He had his jagged edges, yes." Remus agreed, "But at his heart, James put his friends first. The cruelty in him was down to the disloyalty and dishonour he'd see in others; whether real or imagined." 

Minerva studied her fellow teacher, "You've thought about this." 

"Being in a staff with Severus has rather forced my hand in that manner. Harry has had trouble with him, as well; and for that I must also look to our shared past." Minerva let her features become pinched at that, disapproving. "I would not expect him to forgive James. And Merlin knows Harry is his spitting image...But Harry is not his father, and for that I pity Severus his inability to see. Harry may look like James; but he is Lily's son, through and through." 

Padfoot rumbled in agreement, then turned his head towards Madam Pomfrey's office, slipping down from the bed and trotting out the open door just as the nurse bustled out. 

"Minerva!"

"Hello, Poppy." Minerva greeted warmly. 

"Where's that scoundrel of yours, Remus?" 

"Off to get himself something to eat, I'd hope." Remus replied. "He's too damn thin." 

Minerva shot him a sidelong look, and Remus grinned impishly, just as he had when he'd been her pupil. She couldn't stop her lips from twitching. "He is rather reedy, isn't he? Poor dear. I'll have to keep an eye on him, make sure he recovers. Took Hagrid two months before he was back to a healthy weight, and that was a sentence of but a few weeks!" 

"Any help I can get, Poppy, I will greatly appreciate." Remus emphasized. Poppy nodded brusquely, and twitched at his covers, scowling slightly. 

"Your bedclothes, Remus! Covered in dog hair--honestly, I--" 

"Must be from home, Poppy: Sirius and I keep a pup." Remus lied quickly, "Siri's threatened that he'll have the mutt follow me 'round Hogwarts just to keep me safe." 

"Well, with your track record, might well do you and Mr. Potter good to have someone looking after you. How is the boy's homelife, Remus? I've noticed he's filling out nicely, as opposed to you and Sirius." Poppy was only slightly scolding, her eyes pinning and her mouth pursed. 

"Harry's brilliant. Helps me with the cooking, or Sirius with the cleaning. Did his homework ages ago, just seemed happy to be able to do it." Remus's expression must have displayed his displeasure at that point, and both women nodded. 

"I begged Albus not to put him with those beastly excuses for Muggles." Minerva murmured, looking pale. "I was there that night...I'd been there all day, watching them. Thank you, Remus. For...for taking him in. For being strong enough against Albus to do what I've wanted for years." 

"Sirius is my strength, Minerva. Without him, I doubt I'd have much life to offer the boy. I wish I could have; that I had the resources when it happened. Truth be told, I was offered the position here to keep me from starving." Poppy looked incensed, "Life to a werewolf is never kind; and I was a broken one at that. It's difficult...knowing how much easier my life is with Sirius, and knowing that that ease isn't mutual. He heals me by being close; and I am left with no way to help him."

Minerva's mouth was a thin line, "Listen here, Remus, because I will say this once; it's all you ever needed for even the most difficult of coursework. You help Sirius by giving him a ballast. You make him happy, you keep him sane. Just as much as he does you. That man dragged himself through Azkaban and a year of hiding, Remus, and for as much as he'd like us to believe it was solely for revenge on the man that murdered his best friend; it is more down to the continued existence of you--and had you rejected him in the Shack, Remus? Had you lost him so far as to be unreachable in the shift, Peter Pettigrew would well have escaped, three students would be dead...and Sirius Black would have had a final kiss that would be his cause of death. Do not toil under the assumption that because the magic of the wolf bends to Sirius, that he will not bend for you. He already has, and he always will if I know that pig-headed fool of a boy! Do you hear me?" 

"Yes, Minerva." Remus breathed, very nearly scared. 

"Good. Now, I have a staff meeting to attend about the latest techniques we'll employ to try to keep Potter safe." Minerva looked like it was the last thing she wanted to do, standing up and striding out with a pat on Remus's hand and a nod to Poppy. 

"...She's right, you know." Poppy whispered. "I still remember finding him in here after that moon--still, apparently; he hadn't left your side, though you'd been asleep for most of the day. I had never seen more concern on a young face than I did then. If things hadn't worked out...My heart would've broken for you, Remus, and for him." 

Poppy patted his hair, and Sirius appeared through the door a moment later, laden with treats but stormy faced. 

"You heard everything." Remus sighed as Sirius plunked himself into the seat Minerva had vacated. 

"Of course." Sirius replied, "Remus, you can't honestly--" 

"Sirius," Remus began, voice a warning, "even with the potion, I am no where near as...sane, as I am when I'm running with you. You told Dumbledore my moons were easy--they haven't been. Without you, I was barely hanging on. You've no idea how much--" 

"Remus, you told me when we began this...mating...that we were in it together; that you and I felt the same about each other--bloody stupid--and we would always have equal footing in our mating. So what the bloody hell makes you think that I wasn't just as bereft? That being without you even before Azkaban wasn't worse than the Dementors?" Sirius reached up, shifting a bony shoulder into the stretch of his collar so that Remus could see the back of his shoulder. Just there, Remus could make out a tattoo of the moon: the exact lunar movement that it was going through, "I got it the first moon I had to miss, Remus, so I would never forget. It tracks the lunar cycle." 

Remus swallowed, his throat extremely tight, "Why didn't I notice that..." 

Sirius shrugged, "Not like you were the one pounding into me, darling, and I've kept a shirt on most of the time." 

Remus reached his hand out, and Sirius fell to his knees so that Remus didn't strain. Remus slid his hand under the fabric, righting the uncomfortable tug of Sirius's collar so that he could get his fingertips on the ink. Sirius reached up, both hands circling Remus's forearm as he stared into Remus's eyes. "Well, I suppose I should make an appointment for that pawprint over my heart." 

Sirius snorted quietly, leaning in and kissing him, slow and soft. "I love you, you fool." 

"I can see that." Remus admonished quietly, "Sirius," Sirius reached up and drew his finger over the crease between Remus's brows, frowning at it as he leaned up to kiss the expression away. "When did I get so old?" 

"What are you talking about?" Sirius asked, continuing to kiss Remus's forehead, then down his cheek. 

"You got a tattoo for me, and instead of finding that incredibly hot, I find myself worrying..." 

"It's been almost fourteen years since I got it, Remus, I think if it were going to get infected or heal improperly, it would've done so by now." 

"I'm not worried about that--" 

Sirius pulled back enough to look Remus in the eye, frowning deeper, "What are you worried about?" 

Remus looked away, and Sirius clucked, nudging him. 

"Remus, tell me it isn't that you're worried I won't love you." Sirius whispered harshly, his eyes flashing. Remus wouldn't meet his eyes, and Sirius swore, "Fucking hell, Remus! I've adored you and no one else for more than half my life! Do you really think I'd ever stray? That I'd let this go?" 

"I don't think--" Remus began, voice too harsh. He took a deep breath, and let it out slowly, "I don't think you would be the one at fault, Sirius." 

"So you trust me enough to think I'll make a good father to Harry, but not so much to have faith that I _can't_ fall out of love with you?" 

"Sirius, having you...it makes things better for me. But in return, you get nothing but a bloody werewolf who you keep having to take care of! You're human, perfectly and flawlessly human, for all you have the stubbornness of a damn mule--but you're not tied to me, and sometimes I wonder if you knew that. You could have anyone else, Siri. It's your choice to have it so much easier and I have never understood why you don't just choose--" 

"Because I love my werewolf, Remus! I loved you for years even before James finally tripped us into one another! If I'd lost you...I'd be useless, and you don't seem to understand that. You saved my life in the Shack, and you love me even though I don't deserve it." 

"You're an idiot if you think you'd fall apart without me, Siri. You're the man that escaped Azkaban and found Peter Pettigrew: You could do so much better without me." 

"I survived seeing my godson for the first time in thirteen years because of you!" Sirius nearly bellowed, and Remus hissed, knowing full well that Sirius would be kicked out, other patients or no. "Remus--" 

"I love you, Siri. I'll never leave you--" 

"But you doubt that I love you? That I'll never leave you? I don't accept that. That's no way for you to live!" 

"I have you for however long you choose to give me." Remus murmured. 

" _Always_." Sirius growled. 

Both men startled as a throat was cleared from the entrance, Severus Snape looking equal parts disgusted and condesending as he strode into the Hospital Wing, "I would hate to interrupt..." he began, voice as oily as his hair. 

Sirius snorted, rolling his eyes. He got off his knees, bending to kiss Remus on the forehead. 

"I'd appreciate the chance to speak to our...Defense Against the Dark Arts professor." Snape murmured, and Sirius shot Remus a loaded look, but let Remus smile him out of the room. 

Sirius made it to another corridor before giving in, punching the nearest wall hard enough that he felt his knuckles split. From behind him, he heard a tsk of long-suffering exasperation. Sirius turned, and his hand was caught in Minerva's, her wand tapping the back of his hand and healing up the break he knew he'd given himself. "Your temper runs so very hot, Sirius, I've always wondered how you managed to so gracefully accept your friends' pranks when they turned on you." 

"I gave as good as I got, and I knew it." 

Minerva glanced up at him, her eyes narrowing for a while, but the look wasn't unkind. "Let's have tea while Severus comes to the realization he picked the wrong guardian to try to work into a fight." 

Sirius flinched, turning his head back to Remus in worry, but Minerva still had his hand, and she snorted daintily at him. 

"As if Remus couldn't deal with Severus himself, Black; hasn't dealt with him for for the past year." 

Sirius sighed, "I wouldn't abandon him, Professor, I'm sorry." 

Minerva's look spoke that she knew that they had argued, and what over, "He's not been abandoned, Sirius; and he'd thank you more for giving him the chance to tear Severus a new one over his treatment of Potter and his lot." 

Sirius looked at her, a begrudging smile on his mouth, "Yes, ma'am." 

He followed her not to her office, but instead to a classroom he'd only ever seen to map it. "Whose room is this?" 

Minerva shrugged, "I believe the last time it was used was for Salathar Slytherin's classes." She told him. He stopped dead, head tilted slightly, and she looked at him with raised brows, "Do you have a problem with Slytherin?" 

"Well, he set a Basilisk loose in the bloody school, and my godson nearly died killing it, but other than that..." He muttered darkly, and Minerva chuckled silently, her features full of mirth. 

"Good point, I'll give you that." She nodded, signalling him to sit across from her at the one table in the room. "But some old biases..." 

"Harry's being bullied by the head of Slytherin house; Draco Malfoy--snide, snotty little git that he is--tried to cast out the one staff member of Hogwarts who Harry will turn to and actively seeks out to spend time with, who, coincidently, is the very person who saved Harry from those horrific blasted Muggles and actually told him about his parents and how they died. Why on earth would you think me biased?" 

Minerva took a breath, looking down at the table. She tapped it with her wand, and a tea service sprang up, complete with finger sandwiches. "I can't say you're wrong in the slightest, Black. But Peter Pettigrew, if I remember correctly, was a Gryffindor." 

Sirius glared up at her, "We're not talking about a bias that says all evil is born of Slytherin, Minera. I just think the vast majority of the house of the snake are giant gits." 

Minerva heaved a deep sigh, sitting back and studying him while the tea began to serve itself between them. "You're smarter than that, Sirius. If I recall correctly the gossip flooding my classroom, the girl you dated before James so heroically threw you in a closet with Remus was a Slytherin." 

"And look how that turned out: I ended up gay." 

"If the pining was anything to go by, you were gay long before you began dating her." 

"I didn't pine! I knew my feelings and accepted my fate as best friend. There was nothing to be done for it; he seemed to like books more than he did anything or anyone else, and I still sometimes wonder if he does prefer a book to the pleasure of my company." 

"Sometimes dubious pleasure, dear." Minerva pointed out, laughter glinting in her eye but evident no where else. "You hated Slytherins then, I remember. But you seemed to know that not all were evil." 

Sirius looked away, sighing, "What is the point of this?" 

"Harry has his own demons to deal with by Slytherin house. Severus, and, as you say, Malfoy. But I'm given to believe that Harry's taken to socializing with Cedric Diggory. And Mr. Diggory will open him up to a whole new outlook, if I'm not mistaken. Be open to his choices, Black; I'm lead to believe it's a good parenting technique." 

She raised her tea to pursed lips and sipped daintily, watching him. "I always took you to be a hawk." 

"I always took you to be a fool, Sirius; we can't all be such good judges of character." 

*~*

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, put me down!" Remus argued over Sirius's laughter, trying to make sure his head wasn't going to go bouncing off the doorway since Sirius didn't seem so inclined to take care. 

Of course, Sirius was taking great care, but Remus was encouraged to think Sirius had no sense of safety or depth perception.

"No, don't put me to bed! I want to be on the couch, Sirius; if you're not going to bloody put me down--Bed rest does not literally mean the bed! I can rest on the couch and talk to Harry when he comes home--Oh, good lord, don't look at me; look at the stairs, watch where you're going!" 

Sirius laughed at his lover, closing his eyes just to niggle him, and he laughed harder when Remus made a noise like an overly-exasperated housewife. "Do you really think I would let you get hurt so quickly after prying you out of Poppy Pomfrey's clutches?" 

Remus huffed as he was faked out, Sirius dancing towards the bedroom before quickly reversing and sweeping them grandly through the opposite door, which was a room he'd barred Remus from going into since they'd first seen it. 

Remus's jaw dropped, his eyes bugging. 

It'd been a beautiful room before Sirius had gotten his hands on it; now it was from a dream of Remus's, books shelved from floor to the sunlit ceiling; ivy climbing from the side of the house up the vaulted, train-station style windows; a tapestry taking up the wall over the fireplace, a chaise lounge and two arm chairs, mismatched but somehow cohesive together all gathered around the fireplace and the thick carpet spread just over the hardwood; a chess set and proper table set out between the armchairs, in the midst of a game. "Harry was helping me." Sirius explained. "He's quite good with a measure, and he used the Muggle maths to figure that the shelves we originally got weren't going to be able to take the weight. The books are from the collection in Grimmauld Place, and a few first editions I'd found before...and couldn't give you. Saving for birthdays and Christmases..." 

"Sirius..." Remus breathed, and Sirius eased him into the chaise lounge, crouching in front of him and taking one hand, "this is what you were up to all summer?" 

"This, and working on an enchantment for our bedroom ceiling. You'll love it." 

"You can't leave it off there, I'm just going to worry--" 

"I wanted to enchant it like the Great Hall so we could see the stars at night." Sirius told him. "Harry suggested we make a mosaic on the ceiling, there's not really a record of what spell was used or how, but Hermione's looking into it now, so it shouldn't be long." 

Remus was staring at him with devastatedly overwhelmed eyes.

Sirius shrugged, reaching up to twitch Remus's hair back, "I wanted this to be home." 

"It is home. It's got you, it's got Harry, that's all I need." 

"Yes, but I wanted this...to be ours. Even when Harry's moved out and we're tottering old men...Harry and I built this without magic, mostly out back of Hagrid's so you wouldn't be suspicious." Sirius was laughing halfway through the sentence, and Remus could only hold his stern expression for so long before he was laughing, too. "And the bedroom is for the both of us. You don't remember sleeping under the stars after a moon, but I do." Sirius cupped his hand around Remus's cheek, and he kissed him slowly, taking his time. "Don't be cross." 

"Don't start a subject that way." 

"Well, I rather...I've had...your mother was a lovely woman, I adored her, you know that. She gave this to me and told me that she knew I'd be the idiot who'd have enough courage to ask." Sirius slid a compartment in the chess table, and a drawer smoothly appeared. He picked up a weathered ring box, setting it on Remus's rebuilt chest. 

It was his mother's engagement ring, and Remus's mouth went dry, his heart thumping too hard for him to keep breathing. 

"It won't fit your finger." Sirius murmured, "So I got this." Lifting the ring carefully, Sirius revealed a long gold chain, intricate and beautiful. "And I swear that I would have told you, Remus, but Albus never came, and I didn't trust the Minister--I had no one to tell. I should've given it to you after sh-she...but she'd promised me that I wouldn't, that I'd propose with it, even though you'd have to wear another ring, and I thought I had _time_ \--" 

"Stop talking." Remus ordered, voice barely a croak. His hands were shaking. "She told me when she was dying...that she'd lost it. I nearly tore the house apart after she was gone to look for it before I had to...had to give up. To sell the house. You were...in South Africa convincing Kingsley to come back to England: you wouldn't remember that part. I didn't even send word to you until a week after she'd...because I wanted you to do your work. It was so much more important." 

Sirius and Remus were both in silent tears, "Please don't hate me." 

"Hate you? Sirius, you don't seem to understand. You've given me something I thought I'd lost over a decade ago. I just...give me a moment, will you? Call Poppy and see if I can't get off bedrest before semester. We need to have a party, and I don't intend on reposing like some aged aunt." 

Sirius let his tears fall, pressing his eyes closed as he leaned forward and kissed Remus's forehead, his breath catching when Remus reached up and caught the back of his neck, pulling him into a kiss. 

"Thank you, Pads." He whispered, as if Sirius had performed a miracle. Sirius kissed the tears off his cheeks before heaving himself up with a groan, turning for the door. 

"What do you want for dinner, before I go? Thai food always seemed to agree with you most when you had to heal." 

"Call Harry home if you're ordering in, you always order enough for a bloody Quidditch team." Remus laughed to himself, sniffing as he wiped his eyes and looked at his mother's ring. "'The dream of a waking man'." He read the inscription on the simple gold band quietly, a smile pulling at his mouth. Aristotle had said that hope was the dream of a waking man. The small stone was an opal instead of a diamond, and Remus had always loved the colours in its milky white depths. 

He suddenly wanted Sirius back so badly it almost hurt; wanted to kiss him and hold him so tight it'd do everything to show him how much he loved him. Remus sat up, wincing at the stiffness of his chest, and managed to get himself to his feet, stumbling towards the door just before it burst open, Sirius looking thunderous. 

"I left you alone, that does not mean you can get up and--Remus!" Sirius choked the last, his eyes bugging as Remus's arms wrapped around him, squeezing tight against a chest he just hoped wasn't so fragile as to hold up under the pressure. 

They crumbled, Sirius wiggling until he got his arms out and could hold Remus back, tucking his mouth against Remus's neck and sighing. "I love you." Remus choked out, Sirius's hand curling in his hair. 

"I love you, too, you prat. You're trying to get me in trouble with Poppy--as if I haven't gotten into enough trouble with her over you." 

Remus laughed, the sound warm and throaty, something Sirius missed so acutely that every time he heard it he felt like whatever scars left on him disappeared. 

"You're not mad?" 

Remus shook his head, "No, and, Sirius...I feel sick thinking about what happened. That Albus never...That I didn't fight to come see you. I just...And now you're back and you don't hate me for--" 

"Hey, hey! Old man, we've been over this." Sirius placed a hand on either cheek, looking him in the eyes, "I'm just as guilty of thinking the worst of you as you were of me." Sirius pressed his lips to Remus's, and Remus wouldn't let him out, making him deepen the kiss and pulling him in tighter, until Sirius was laughing into his mouth, keeping them from toppling over. 

The throat clearing from the doorway broke them apart, Harry standing there with a bag of Thai food and what looked like a mass of bright green icing. 

"Molly made me a cake?" 

"No, she made me a cake. And I've never heard her swear like that..." 

Sirius's eyes widened, his face falling. "No..." 

Remus looked from Harry to Sirius before it clicked, "BLOODY HELL, WE ARE SUCH UTTER PRATS!" 

"I forgot it was my birthday, too, until Hedwig got to the Burrow with Hagrid's present. Hermione even forgot." Harry shrugged, and both men scrambled to stand without rebreaking Remus. 

"We can have a party--" 

"I've your presents hidden--" 

"--first bloody birthday with us and we bloody _forget_ , I need to ask Hagrid to sit on my head, knock some sense--" 

"--bloody failures, the pair--" 

"HEY!" Harry shouted, "You were just in hospital, Remus; Sirius, Mr. Weasley already mentioned that a party had been planned, but I told them we would put it off until Remus was well again; just being with the two of you makes this a better birthday than any of my birthdays and all of them combined. Now: we have Thai food getting cold and I, for one, would like to make sure Remus sits before he falls." 

Sirius sighed, closing his eyes in shame and shaking his head, "I'd forgot I talked to Arthur..." 

"You did." 

"I'm so sorry, Harry." 

Harry shook his head, backing out of the room while Sirius took Remus's arm and helped him amble down the stairs. 

"I'm not an invalid, Siri; I hurt my chest, not my legs!" 

"Uh-huh." Harry and Sirius muttered in sardonic unison, both completely ignoring him as Harry set out dinner and helped Sirius set cushions over the back of Remus's chair. 

"We are very sorry, Harry. Tomorrow, all day, you pick the food and the activity: movies, chess, books, you name it." Remus promised. 

"Pick breakfast tonight, and you get breakfast in bed." Sirius chimed in. 

Harry laughed, "It's okay. You...I have a home now, presents from...from my guardians. That's more than the Dursley's ever gave me." 

"That's not much to measure by." Remus murmured, perturbed. 

"It's a start. You jumped in front of a rogue Bludger to save my life, Remus; forgetting my birthday doesn't matter." Sirius opened his mouth, but Harry simply continued, "And with all the stress and mix-up of the attack, I forgot it, too. And Mrs. Weasley. Does that better put into perspective the measure?" 

"Still, Harry; Remus and I will make it up to you." 

Harry sighed lightly, but accepted it. He cleaned his plate with a piece of naan Sirius and Harry favoured with their Thai food, despite the fact it wasn't Thai, and got up from the table to take his dishes and Remus's to the sink, the enchanted scrub brush brandishing itself at him. 

"Come sit back down while Sirius gets your presents, then we'll cut the cake." Remus beckoned, accepting a kiss on the head as Sirius stood and squeezed his shoulder. 

"Remus...I don't mean to make you feel uncomfortable, but...you look so much healthier with Sirius, and I...I was wondering if I should start dropping hints that the two of you could get married--" 

"Harry!" Remus burst into a fit of laughter, "Oh, that does send me on a guilt trip: Harry, Sirius asked me night before the Cup, and...I said yes. We were going to tell you once we got rings for each other." 

"Hermione said that the two of you must be all but married, especially with how quickly you were healing with him there." Harry was beaming. "And I wouldn't care so long as you both were happy, but I figured any help would..." 

"You are so like your father it's a little frightening!" Sirius shouted. "James bloody well locked us in a closet until we professed our feelings! Now you, asking if you ought to meddle for Remus's sake!" 

Sirius was breathless and laden with presents as he blundered back into their little dining area off the kitchen. Harry hopped up immediately, helping take some of the weight so that Sirius could walk more easily. 

"Sorry I didn't tell you. Spur of the moment thing that I've bloody been leading up to for a decade." Sirius laughed, patting Harry's shoulder. 

Harry looked at the small pile with a tight throat, and Remus reached for and squeezed his hand reassuringly. "I believe that this life...the three of us together, is so good that none of us can quite believe we aren't dreaming: that it's really real." 

Harry smiled, watery but bright, and let Sirius hand him the first present. 

Harry's bedroom had been bedecked by Quidditch posters, a set of ornate hooks for his Firebolt, bookshelves, and a desk. Harry and Sirius had spent one day out and about choosing things for Harry's room and they'd come back with something that Remus knew was like a dream for Harry. 

Quietly, Sirius pried Harry's new copy of Fantastic Foibles of the Far East: A Wizard's Ruins free from his sleeping hands and prodded him until he'd gotten to the same sweet spot James had had; just awake enough for walking and the odd full conversation; but neither actually awake nor able to remember anything. Harry fell face-first into bed just as Remus summoned the glasses off his nose with a flick of his wand. Chuckling quietly, Sirius tugged and shifted the blankets until he could smooth them over Harry's shoulders, brushing a hand over his back before slipping noiselessly out of the room. 

"Hasn't slept, I'd wager." Sirius whispered, shadowing Remus down the hall to their room, "Bloody amazing he managed to stay up to midnight reading." 

Remus smiled at Sirius's grin, palming the door shut carefully. "It's a damn good book. I remember you reading it to me when we lost our oars on that in Wales. That was a good day." He groaned a little as he shed his shirt, Sirius at his side in an instant, tsking delicately and helping him peel off his clothes. He caught Sirius's shoulders, rubbing over his neck with his thumbs, "I want you tonight, Siri." 

"You have me. You own me. I've even go a collar to prove it coming in the mail." Sirius teased. "Get in bed, love." 

"Don't play dumb, I know how smart you really are, you can't fool me." 

Sirius sighed, "I will not cause you injury, Remus Black." 

Remus had his mouth open to argue, but the name distracted him, as Sirius had hoped it would. "What about a hyphenate?" 

"Sirius Lupin-Black. Black-Lupin? ...Maybe it'd be best if we came up with something new," Sirius mused, frowning. He sat down on the end of the bed heavily, yanking off his own clothes and rolling his shoulders. Remus had to be feeling better, because Sirius hadn't heard him move, but Remus was suddenly kissing across his shoulders. 

Sirius sighed, his head falling back slightly. "Remus, what has gotten into you?" 

"I wish I could say 'you', but you keep fighting that..." 

Sirius barked a laugh, disbelieving, "That was bad, Moony, even for you." 

"Let me blow you." Remus coaxed, biting and sucking a hickey into Sirius's neck. 

"Same song, love--" 

"You won't hurt me, Siri. I've got full range of motion, I'm just a little stiff--" 

"Poppy Pomfrey would have my head, Moony, lay down." 

"Look, I'm damn near fully-healed just from having you curled up beside me all night--imagine what--" 

"Moony, really, what's going on?" Sirius turned and stood, looking at his lover with a painful concern in his features. 

Remus bit his lip, sighing, "I don't know what I was thinking, let the summer slip by...I've got you back, and you've given me a home, and...and my mother's ring, Siri; I love you, stupidly, and I don't know why I held out for so long, but now it feels like--" 

"It's urgent?" Sirius asked, sitting back down on the bed, reaching for Remus's hair and pulling their foreheads together. "It isn't urgent, love; and that shouldn't be a motivator for sex. I was gone for a long time, and we both suffered during that time--don't argue with me, Remus, it's not going to do you any good, I'm still right--but you have always been the sensible one, darling, and I need that. Poppy's orders are at least three more days for the bones to set to their full strength, by the way. We can have the party then." 

"I don't feel fragile." Remus mumbled, and Sirius smiled. 

"The night before last, I had you coming until you passed out. Anyone would feel invincible for the possibility of that." Remus sighed as Sirius began to over balance them until he was laying down, gentle and careful hands guiding him back on the bed. Sirius stood up, though, pulling off his trousers and the rest and sliding into bed along Remus's side, laying a long hand over Remus's heartbeat and resting his head against Remus's shoulder. 

Really, come daylight, Sirius should not have been surprised to find himself in the position he was in. 

"Remus, really, I gave you--uh...I gave you that wh-whole speech...bloody hell," Remus chuckled around the mouthful of Sirius's cock, and Sirius swore whole-heartedly. "No, no: we...we have Harry...he deserves breakfast and..." 

Remus didn't care for the excuse, experimentally testing to see if deep throating was a skill you never forgot, and humming in victory when Sirius let out a whine. Remus swallowed him down, and kept his mouth on Sirius until the other man whimpered, then pulled off with an obscene pop. He crawled up the bed, laying against Sirius and kissing his shoulders, his neck, letting him catch his breath. "It's barely seven, Siri; Harry won't be up for another hour and a half at least." Sirius pressed into his arms as Remus reached down, covering Sirius's spent cock with his hand, kissing along his jaw. 

"You're trying to get Poppy to kill me." Sirius whined. He reached into the curve of Remus's body, finding that Remus was painfully hard, and he swallowed, nudging at the man. "On your back, Moony." Remus shuddered, rolling onto his back and watching as Sirius kissed over the pudge on his stomach reverently. Remus barely noticed Sirius finding his wand he was so busy curling his hands in Sirius's shaggy hair, tracing his thumbs down Sirius's jaw, relishing the rasp of stubble. 

Sirius pulled his mouth away from Remus's skin to mutter the incantation, and Remus gasped as the sensation didn't hit him. 

Sirius bit his lip as pressure sprouted within him, and wet. It was always better with fingers or tongue, but Sirius didn't have the patience and he had Remus obediently taking it easy. Remus caught the hand not wrapped around his wand, and Sirius met his sea-green eyes. He raised himself up when the pressure eased away from pain, and Remus let out a long moan as Sirius lowered himself down, guiding Remus's cock into him. 

Sirius bent forward, tightening himself around Remus and laying himself out over the man so that he could easily rouse him into a kiss. When he started moving, Remus closed his eyes and let his head tip back, his hands gripping Sirius's hips hard enough there was a good chance there would be bruises--and Sirius loved that thought. 

"Your chest..." Sirius panted. 

"'S fine...you don't have to be so careful." Sirius kissed the words from his mouth, and Remus smiled even before he replied. 

"Yes, I do." 

Sirius was careful with his weight; his arms shaking with strain from holding himself off of Remus, but he didn't pull back, too lost in the kisses that were either hot as hell, or just loose presses and shared gasps for breath. Remus's fingers trailed over Sirius's lower back, feeling the tension in his muscles and the delicious spread of Sirius's body. He reached around, sliding his fingers over Sirius's hip to curl around his cock, feeling it swell in his hand and Sirius twitch over him. 

"Can't..." Sirius panted, pained, and Remus let go immediately, wrapping his arms around Sirius with concern between his brows. "Don't have the refractory period of a werewolf." Sirius teased, and Remus let out a soundless cry as he clenched around Remus, bringing him over all too suddenly. 

Remus groaned, pulling Sirius down and obstinately refusing to let him go. 

"Oh no...we managed this much without cracking any of your new ribs, Moony, I'll not go breaking you now." Remus chuckled, and let Sirius move to his side, snuggling in, long limbs wrapped around him. "I love you." 

"I love you, too," Remus laughed, kissing his hair. "Sleep, I'll make you and Harry both breakfast." 

"Mmm, no, love: I let you cook and you'll burn the bloody house to the ground." Sirius groaned, leaning up and kissing him, slow and soft. 

"Bugger that," Remus groaned, laughing as he smacked Sirius in the stomach. 

Sirius laughed with him, moving for a kiss. Heaving himself upright, Sirius winced at the mess of himself, reaching for his wand and cleaning himself up. He stumbled over his own discarded clothes, walking over to the dresser and pulling on a set. He pulled out a jumper of Remus's, though, snuggling into it as he padded out of the room, grinning into the smell of Remus's cologne. 

Remus followed not long after, burying his face in Sirius's neck as Sirius cooked their breakfast, his hands folding low on Sirius's lower stomach. 

Sirius reached down, snapping a rubber band around Remus's wrist. "I do need a haircut, don't I?" 

Remus laughed, burying his hands in Sirius's hair and weaving through, lifting the locks and twisting them up, trying it back securely. "So do I." 

Remus pressed his lips to the back of Sirius's neck. "Will you do it?" Sirius asked quietly, closing his eyes. 

"I haven't for years..." 

"'S like riding a bike." Sirius murmured, smile in his voice. 

"You'd trust your hair to a man who hasn't cut anyone's hair for almost fourteen years?" 

"Absolutely." 

"Loon." Remus laughed, throaty and fond. 

Sirius laughed, kissing his cheek. Remus moved off to get plates, and Sirius started humming, happy and lighthearted. 

Remus laughed at him as Sirius danced to his own off-key rendition of something that was so horribly botched he couldn't tell what it was meant to be. "You're unbearably chipper. It's disgusting." Remus let himself be twirled as Sirius took the plates, stopping Remus's progression to nip at his lips with a grin. 

They produced trays for the food, cradling their teas in their hands as they crept back up the stairs and pushed Harry's door open. 

One half of Harry's hair was standing on end, the other flattened straight back, almost making him look like a parrot. He raised his head from the pillows, squinting at them in the bright sunlight streaming through his curtains, and groaned, face-planting back down into the pillow. 

"Tea, young one." Sirius said authoritatively, balancing the cup on the back of Harry's neck for a split second before moving it to his bedside table. 

Remus sat on one side of the end of the bed, Sirius on the other, their trays tucking them in neatly as Harry sat up and groaned more, pulling on his glasses. "Thanks." Sirius nodded silently, letting Harry have quiet in which to wake up. Once the tea was halfway drained and Harry had started on his sausages, Remus knew it was alright to begin conversation. 

"Any ideas what you want to do today?" 

Harry lowered his fork, considering, "Well, I'd better get my school things--" 

"Already done. Minerva gave me your list directly two weeks ago. But we can go shopping if you'd like." Remus replied. 

"Wait, he needs new robes this year, Remus, so we'd best do that soon, but not today: today's about your birthday, Harry, anything you like." 

"Actually, I've an idea. Get dressed in Muggle clothes; Sirius, come shave and brush your hair so we can tie it back properly, you won't look so much like your wanted poster that way." 

"I've been cleared!" 

"Muggles take more notice of dangerous criminals than they do of cleared ones, dear, it's only safer." 

"Fine." Sirius sighed, dramatically huffing out of the bedroom with his dishes chasing after him. 

"I'm going to go help him shave because if I don't, he'll nick an artery and that'll be the end of the blessed prat." Remus excused himself, and Harry snorted at him, "It's a surprise where I'm taking the two of you--but bring that camera Sirius got you." 

"My hands used to be bloody still--!" 

"Sirius, you need to calm down. You're shaking because you're trying so hard not to. Sit." Remus ordered, but lovingly, and Sirius stalked to the small stool Remus had installed the week after they'd moved in and Sirius had come down with more tissue than skin on his jaw. 

"If we let it just grow out--" 

"I'd never let you have sex with me again, that would be horrible, don't do that." Remus hissed, scowling in disgust as he took the razor and carefully saw to the sloppy application of shaving cream Sirius had slathered himself in. 

It was incredibly intimate, and they'd made out like teenagers the first few times they'd done this; but Remus was gentle and patient, the peace and serenity radiating off him serving to calm Sirius down into the man he'd been before Azkaban had happened; at ease with every careful scrape of the razor, with every breath he took of Remus's scent. 

Remus gave him a clean shave, and Sirius washed his face clear of the remaining cream, leaning against the bathroom counter while Remus far more quickly and efficiently shaved himself. 

"Where're we going?" 

"Not telling." Remus teased. 

"It's not like I don't know most of the places you'd know; I'm from the wizarding community, too; have been all my life, know the ins and outs." 

"You will know, Sirius; but I will not be the one to tell you." He replied simply, kissing Sirius's next argument out of his mouth. 

Sirius changed into a pair of jeans, but remained in Remus's jumper. 

"Put on a shirt under that, Siri; you'll catch your death." 

"It's summer, Moony!" 

"Where we're going is air conditioned, you prat." Remus threw a shirt at his head, disappearing into his closet and coming out with a tie half-tied between his fingers and a look somewhere between concentration and confusion on his face. 

"And apparently bowties are required. Goddamnit, Moony, you look delectable like that." 

"We haven't got time for that now." Remus replied, his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth as his fingers tumbled over themselves for the third time. Sirius batted his hands away, tying it perfectly the first time, and Remus smiled at him, "See? Those hands of yours are still much in demand." He picked up Sirius's hands, kissing his fingers. 

"Yes, well, I personally miss the days when I could trust my hands implicitly." 

Remus tried to disappear back into his closet, but Sirius followed him, and he was caught struggling to get his chest to move in such a way that he could pull up a pair of suspenders. 

"Moony..." Sirius admonished on a whisper, moving into the small space and helping him. 

"It's just twisting and bending, Siri; it's not a big deal." 

"It's causing you pain: that, to me, is a very big deal." 

Remus shot him a look, but Sirius stood his ground without a qualm, eyebrows rising as he crossed his arms over his chest. 

There was a soft knock on their bedroom door, signalling that Harry was ready, and Remus turned and walked out of his closet, grabbing up a tweed jacket on the way and laying it over his arm for use when they made it to where ever it was he was taking them. 

Sirius sighed, but grabbed a hooded sweatshirt for Harry from his own dresser, catching the boy around the shoulders and pulling him in, putting on a mockingly trepidatious look for Remus's sake, and grinning as Harry followed suit. 

Once the three of them trouped out of the Leaky Cauldron in a certain direction, Sirius knew where they were headed. 

"You are entirely more excited by this than I expected." Remus laughed. 

"Oh, hush. I am exactly as excited as a grown man should be." Sirius sniped. 

Harry laughed, curious and looking around this way and that for an idea as to where they were headed. Sirius sauntered ahead of them a ways once they turned a corner, and by the time Remus and Harry had caught up, he was precariously balancing three paper dishes of gelato. 

"Lemon for Remus; chocolate for Harry; and a nice raspberry for me." 

They walked with their treats, Sirius smearing a bit of raspberry on his nose and urging Remus to kiss it off. Remus laughed, dabbing his finger in the lemon and smearing it on Sirius's nose with the raspberry, grinning wildly and laughing with Harry as Sirius's narrowed his eyes accusingly. 

Remus leaned in, grinning as he kissed the flavour and sugar from Sirius's skin. "Deathly sorry, Harry; we'll have to make a concerted effort not to do anything that would make you want to vomit any more." 

Harry shook his head at them, rolling his eyes at them. Bumping into Sirius, Harry took Remus's empty dish and his own, throwing them out while Sirius savoured the soup his own gelato had been savoured into. "You two eat too quickly." 

"You're slow." Remus laughed. Once Sirius had finished, he slipped his hand into Sirius's, walking happily in the London summer. They got to to the Museum of London, and Harry's face lit up, turning his head to check with Remus that this was where they were going. 

"I never got to go! There was a school trip, but--" He cut himself off, looking up at Sirius as he placed a hand on his shoulder. 

"Well, it's not just the Muggle side we'd like to show you, Harry; and I had to figure that you wouldn't have seen the wizarding side at all." 

Harry looked astonished and excited, a mirror of the way Sirius had perked up when he'd realized where they would be headed. 

"It's not exactly a trip to a wonderland--" 

"It is for me." Harry told him determinedly, "I haven't gotten to do these things; I want to learn about this." 

Sirius smiled at Remus: knowing that Remus had known this. He'd known that Harry would want to learn about his world in all the ways those Muggles hadn't let him. Giving his hand a squeeze, Remus led them across the street, buying tickets for the three of them. Remus, having spent many, many days with his mother learning all that he could, was their guide through the Muggle side, Sirius lurking back slightly and murmuring to the other two fantastical stories that he made up on the spot about some of the more boring parts of the exhibitions. 

They had lunch in a café at the entrance of the wizarding side of the museum; cutlery and dishes flying around the cramped dining room. Sirius's milkshake changed colours as he drank, and Remus had a tea in a cup that kept it as warm as he wanted it through the meal. 

Going to the wizards' museum switched the roles; Remus hanging back with Harry as Sirius explained in an intricate and engaging way the stories of the witches and wizards who had made the things they were seeing. Several small groups--other families, and one pair of starry-eyed teenaged girls--joined them with Sirius's laughing, wondersome voice drawing more attention, even, than a stout little witch with an acid-yellow vest that was actually giving a tour could. 

"One noted exemption from this museum, I have to point out, is Nikola Tesla; a hugely noted scientist on the Muggle side of things, but also an incredibly gifted wizard. Unfortunately, the story is something of a tragic one: The social stigma of Tesla's age was one of great anti-Muggle fervour, and young families looking to make it in the 'new world' of the Americas were asked to snap their wands upon gathering on a dock. Many Muggles had fled to the New World in order to escape the magic and the magical community hidden behind the scenes of their lives; it was made apparent, early on, that magic was not welcome, and, thus snubbed, magic would not deign to travel. 

"When Tesla was young, he asked that he learn not only from Drumstrang, but that he be tutored in the Muggle sciences. His mother and father, from an old, pure-blood line, only agreed when, after contracting a sickness healers were perplexed by, he made a deal with his father to learn if he managed to survive. As you can guess, he did; and before long, Nikola Tesla had began plans to go to the New World. He willingly snapped his wand, and his parents flew into a rage that spanned the continents better than any ship could. 

"Late in his life, Nikola's lines between Muggle science and Wizarding magic began to blur; and the Muggles to this day hold that he had lost his mind due to the fall-through of an invention with which he planned to give the Muggle electricity wirelessly to anyone in the world. In reality, it was much more tragic and personal: Tesla had fallen in love with a young American woman, and the wrath of his parents caught up to him then. The young girl was Transfigured into a dove in front of him one night, before the stock markets crashed, and with no wand and no way to save her, Tesla was left caring for his love as she slowly lost the humanity within her, until she killed herself." 

Remus pulled Sirius closer in with the way they had been walking, arms around each other; and the starry-eyed young women were both sniffing back tears. 

Harry startled horribly as the dragon skeleton they stood under twisted down to nuzzle the girls, comforting them. "The statues move, didn't I mention that?" Remus asked, laughing, in his ear. 

Harry turned to glare at Remus over his shoulder, then looked back up at the dragon, "Tell me about dragons." 

Sirius grinned, ruffling Harry's hair and starting in on the topic in an easy, familiar tone, petting the dragon when it lowered its head for him. 

"Marcie here has been at the Museum since I was a boy, and I tried climbing her tail to get away from my minder." Sirius smiled fondly, like he and the skeletal display were old friends. 

"You wanker: that's how you passed that--you're bloody glad I'm the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, now; or I would tell Professor Hargrove that you totally cheated with the dragon anatomy assignment." Remus and Sirius broke out into laughter, "James and I had to bloody set off five bags of Filibuster Fireworks to get out of that assignment, and you just breezed through as if it were nothing." 

"That was just spending time with her: no, it was the Potions ingredients quiz that buggered me, really. Bones I'd had memorized; Lily helped me with that one." 

Remus gasped, evidently betrayed, "She--Wha--But Lily and I were study partners!" 

"One time, in a study hall, your father got absolutely _pelted_ by paper airplanes with sticking charms." 

"And what he was too busy ranting about while Sirius dutifully depelted him like a good best friend was that Lily had written her phone number in one of them, and was only friends with me because I was a gateway to getting slowly used to the madness." Remus explained, "But I still can't believe he burned those planes, do you know how difficult it is to fold those things the Muggle way?" 

Sirius laughed, shaking his head. "It was brilliant, it really was. One or two of them I could tell Remus had charmed because they were so sticky they almost took James's robes with them." 

"Sirius and your father were brilliant at hexes, charms, and curses--so long as they were offensive. Neither of them could do an unsticking charm to save their immortal souls. And before the end of the year, both of them needed it." 

"James and I may have said that learning a counter is only smart if you're slow enough to get hit." 

"Slow, slow boys." Remus shook his head, trying not to crack up laughing as he gloated. 

Harry was giggling, the gathered crowd dispersing, blushing at having lingered too long. Sirius kissed Remus's cheek, happy to no longer be talking to a crowd. "Thanks. I used to hate answering things for the class." 

"I know." Remus replied simply. Harry walked over to the dragon, studying the strange, fluid way that they moved and giving his guardians a moment. 

"I haven't taken you out on a date in over a decade, Remus." Sirius murmured, "Far too long." 

Sirius's lips were just an inch from Remus's, pulled up in a smirk, "Must be rectified." 

"We're doing horribly on not being sickening in front of Harry." 

"He'll live." Remus laughed, squeezing Sirius's hips. "I love you, you mad bastard." 

"I love you, too, you slavering man-beast." 

Remus let out a ragged laugh, "You have to perform for Harry your best-man speech. You're bad enough with me and the werewolf jokes, but the number of deer-related...it's a good example for the boy of what not to do if you want to be a grown-up." 

"I am a marvelous grown-up." 

Remus just smiled, patting him on the chest and turning his head to observe Harry hanging by the back of his clothes from the massive teeth of the skeletal dragon his godfather had named Marcie. Remus was both amused and filled with dread to note that Harry didn't look at all alarmed by this; because weirder things had happened than being lifted twenty feet in the air by a dead creature.

"Let him down, please. Thank you." 

"Never flown on a dragon..." 

"Harry, no. Don't even start with--just no." Remus held his hands up, his expression one of intense amusement and abject horror. 

"Well, we do know a Weasley..." Sirius murmured to the boy, and Remus's expression lost a good deal of the amusement and gained a good deal more horror, until he was wearing the features of a man who deeply regretted all of his life choices.


	2. Chapter 2

Ginny strode towards Harry in her long, sweeping white dress, grinning as she balanced three foaming butterbeers in her two hands, sliding into the seat next to him not occupied by her brother. Harry took two of them, handing one to Ron and keeping one for himself, clinking their glasses in thanks.

"They're really quite cute." She commented, nodding at Sirius and Remus as Sirius was caught from tumbling head-first into the bonfire by his laughing fiance, the two of them sharing a moment because of it, all smiles and dark eyes.

Ron groaned, "Ginny! That's like saying mum and dad are cute."

"Well, the whole story's a bit like fantastic fiction, isn't it? Sirius came out of Azkaban because he loved Remus and Harry and had to protect them from the danger neither of them knew they faced--it's a beautiful story, for all the terrible bits." Ginny defended herself idly, reaching out to tug on Fred's ear as he collapsed in the grass in front of her, laughing breathlessly. "Harry, you could walk to the castle: are Sirius and Remus really going to let you go on the train with us?"

"If we really wanted, Ginny, you could stay at the house and we could all walk to the castle together--but I'd like to meet Luna and Cedric intends on spending time with us on the way."

"Good point." Fred muttered, smirking as he raised a glass of firewhiskey he wasn't supposed to have to his lips. He choked, coughing and wriggling in disgust at the burn, and Ginny cracked up at him, pulling on his hair. "So, what's the coming storm, you three?"

"No storms." Harry muttered.

"Our lives are now normal." Ron agreed.

"We can learn in peace." Hermione finished, dumping a perfectly wrapped present in Harry's lap and grinning as she sat with Ginny.

"You d--"

"Don't even try it, Potter, just open the present and have a lovely belated birthday." Ginny cut him off, taking a swig of butterbeer with a grin.

Harry scoffed at her, making a face, but opened it with a growing grin and pulled out a Wizard's Chess set.

Harry lit up, looking up at Hermione as she got up and moved around Ginny to bend over and hug him from behind, grinning. "Happy birthday."

"Hermione! This is amazing!" Harry crowed. "Sirius! I've my own chess set to teach curse words to!"

Sirius and Remus laughed, toasting them from over by the grill, turning from their conversation for just a moment. "So they're getting married." Hermione murmured, dropping back into her seat. "Are you giving Sirius away, Harry?"

Harry laughed, "Probably not. But I may well be best-man."

"You bloody will be!" Sirius laughed, taking the Firewhiskey out of Fred's hand and tossing it on the bonfire, Remus yelling as the flames roared upwards, into an actual image: a bird cresting out of the flames, wings extended and breast puffed out in a cry. Something sprang forth from the flames as they sat there, Harry hit with a flaming ball of feathers as the baby cried in his arms.

"Whoa!" Sirius cried out, racing around to get to Harry, taking up a butterbeer and dousing the small flames flickering along Harry's clothes. As the newborn cried, tears fell onto Harry's skin, and the few burns healed before their eyes. "Harry...that's a phoenix."

"Oh, god." Harry's voice was nervous, high. "What...?"

"You got the fire drunk and pregnant, Sirius." Remus snorted, and then Molly, Arthur, and he started laughing so hard they were almost bent double.

"I hate you, you sod." Sirius chortled.

Sirius reached down, brushing away ash and running his fingers over the phoenix's head until it cooed. Harry brushed his fingers over the delicate wings, and brought the creature into his chest.

"Harry, phoenixes are really rare!" Hermione told him, sitting forward with everyone else, trying to get a look at the newborn.

"The fire didn't need stoking for five hours because the phoenix was waiting to come out of the flames once someone did stoke it." Remus murmured, "Harry, are you, in fact, alright?"

Harry looked up, his eyes wide under his glasses, "I am...yeah. Just...I've only ever seen Fawkes. I don't know..."

"I can't believe you started so young, mate." Fred commented, shaking his head.

"And to go straight into single-parenting, too." George agreed, and both twins snickered until Ginny lightly whopped them upside the head.

"We'll help you, Harry." Hermione assured. Ron swallowed and nodded, "Can't be harder than Norbert."

"Don't jinx it." Ron groaned, face pinched as he slapped his face into his hands.

"Harry," Sirius murmured softly, nodding to him, "it'll be alright."

Harry stood up, shaky because so many people had gathered around him, and Sirius and he bent heads over the baby, Sirius catching up the extra jumper he'd brought outside and swaddling it for Harry to hold it warm and close. There was a call, and Harry looked up while everyone else nearly leapt out of their skin: Fawkes came swooping down from the castle, a light in the starry sky as he circled and landed in the fire, seeming to bathe as other birds would in water, before coming out and reposing on Sirius's shoulder, looking cock-headed at the newborn.

"Come to meet the new recruit, Fawkes?" Sirius asked softly, offering his hand up for Fawkes to step onto, and then lowering the fully-grown phoenix down to see the mewling hatchling.

Harry offered Fawkes his own hand and Fawkes nipped his fingers gently as a hello, then turned back to the little one. "Is the headmaster coming?" Harry asked quietly, and Fawkes looked up, regarding him with the great, jewel-like eyes. The bird shook his head no, then bent his head to nuzzle at the baby. "Her name...is Anariel." Harry murmured.

"How'd you know that?" Ron whined, looking over to try to clearly see.

"I don't know..." Harry murmured, shrugging around the baby.

She'd laid her head down against his heartbeat, and seemed to be perfectly happy to dose off there.

Neville Longbottom and Cedric arrived almost simultaneously at that point, coming into the dead-quiet and stunned-looking party. Cedric, after spending even so little time around Harry, immediately began to feel his unease, looking for a threat but only finding the curiosity of a phoenix on Sirius's hand to be the only thing out of place until he stepped forward, towards Harry, and saw what he held in his arms. Cedric's mouth fell open, his eyes going wide, "Are we--?"

"No, boys! You're both in the right place. Everything's alright, just had a bit of a start: Harry's been given something of a gift from the cosmos, it would seem." Remus greeted them, "Mr. Longbottom, it's good to see you."

Neville coloured, nodding to Remus, "And yourself, professor."

"Not a professor out here: You can call me Remus." Remus offered Neville his hand and almost beamed when the boy nervously took it, shaking it once.

"That's a baby phoenix."

"Yes, Cedric." Harry laughed gently, motioning with a flick of his head for Neville and he to come over. "Meet Anariel."

"She's...a white phoenix." Cedric breathed, "That's even rarer than a newborn phoenix."

Silvery and gold, she cooed a little song, raising her head up and letting Cedric rub her tiny, delicate head. "She's beautiful." Harry murmured. Carefully, he and Cedric stepped closer together, Harry carefully laying her in Cedric's arms. He tilted her head up with fingers curled under her beak.

"Anariel." Cedric tried the name on his tongue, and the twins looked at each other.

"Looks like you might not be a single parent after all--OW!" Fred's hand flew up to his head as Ginny thwacked him soundly, then thwacked George for good measure.

"I didn't even do anything!"

"You were thinking it." Ginny and Hermione chorused.

Harry laughed, his mirth breaking the tension fully, letting loose twin's attention span and releasing Arthur and Molly from the worried wall of parental concern. Remus trailed forward to Harry and Cedric, "Let Sirius and I take her inside, figure out where to set her up."

Harry looked up, his eyes wide. He shuffled back a step, but he was still stroking Anariel's fragile head. "No, I'll go." Harry met Cedric's eyes, and Sirius threw a look over his shoulder.

"I'll go tomorrow for the proper things to take care of her." Sirius promised softly.

"I don't need to be at the castle until well into the afternoon, I'll join you." Remus agreed.

The two men let Harry and Cedric wander up to the house, neither of them looking at the other. "Neville, come on and let's get you something to eat." Sirius greeted warmly, holding out his hand for Neville to shake. The boy did so, his pudgy cheeks turning delicately pink. "How is your gran? I believe we met once or twice..." Sirius guided the boy off with him, and Remus reached out his hand to catch Fawkes as he fluttered over.

"Why do I feel that this'll mean trouble?" Remus asked bluntly. Fawkes looked at him, cocking his head to one side curiously, and didn't give any sign of reply. Remus sighed. "Go on: Keep the headmaster from finding out, will you?"

Fawkes squawked delicately, nuzzling his cheek against Remus's for a moment before taking off. Remus accepted a bottle of butterbeer from Sirius as he drifted back towards him, Neville joining the mass around the bonfire. "You need to research, don't you?"

Remus looked at the man he loved, looping his arm around Sirius and leaning close, "Not tonight." He promised, "Tonight is for celebrating."

Sirius hummed, kissing Remus's forehead and squeezing him gently. "I love you."

"Kind of why we're here." Remus teased, the both of them walking together to the fire and sitting amongst friends.

~*~

Cedric was smiling down on Anariel in the crook of his arm as Harry tried to set up some sort of bed for her. Hedwig fluttered nervously on the dresser, looking curiously at her boy's new addition. "Meet your sister." Cedric murmured, angling his hold to let Hedwig see Anariel.

Harry held out his arm to the snowy owl, walking over to Anariel and Cedric. The phoenix's head rose slightly, and Hedwig wriggled on Harry's arm, almost trying to pace but finding herself cut short on room. The baby chirped at her in a songlike way, and Hedwig seemed to make up her mind, ruffling herself up and flapping to the other side of the room, though Harry got the sense it wasn't out of ill-will, but a pointed disinterest. Cedric was laughing to himself, watching the exchange and lack thereof, "We're both only children, but I have heard that's common..." he offered.

Harry snorted, "She'll come 'round."

Cedric nodded his agreement, chewing distractedly on his lower lip as he took in Harry's room. "Do you ever have just a normal week?"

"You mean one were my life isn't endangered, I don't end up with a phoenix, and my godfather doesn't have to be proven innocent of multiple murders?" Harry joked, "No, not really."

Hermione came bursting upstairs before Cedric could reply, her hair even wilder than usual. "I've figured it out!" She announced, triumph gleaming in her eyes.

Harry and Cedric had both startled, looking almost petrified of what on earth the brilliant witch could've figured out.

"The spell in the Great Hall, Harry: I know what it is!" She elaborated when neither of them spoke. "Come _on_!" Cedric looked down at Anariel, and Harry took her from him, tucking her into the makeshift bed he'd made on his desk.

Harry looked at Hedwig, "Be nice."

Huffing, Hermione pulled him along with Cedric, into the next room--Sirius and Remus's.

"I'd figured it out before, but I'd thought that it couldn't be it, it was too temporary--but Ron and I went for our school things, of course, and I remember seeing these tiny orbs: they make it so that the spell put in them are time-released. I'm sure if we were to look up in the rafters of the Great Hall, we would find them."

"How long does the original spell last, exactly?"

"A month." Hermione replied. Harry looked over to Cedric.

"Would you mind doing the spell? Once I get some of the time-release orbs, I'll perform it on them and sneak them into the house."

"That would be a lovely engagement gift!" Hermione caught on. Cedric took out his wand, and Hermione gave him the incantation and the wand movement, then watched as the night's sky spread over the ceiling, a smile blooming over her features. "Oh, it's lovely!"

"It is." Cedric agreed.

"I'll order the time-release orbs from Diagon Alley." Harry murmured, "How many d'you reckon I'll need?"

"Two at most." Hermione scoffed.

"Thanks, Hermione. Cedric." Harry murmured, "I owe you both."

"Not at all." Cedric and Hermione chorused. They all turned their heads at the sound of Ron tripping up the stairs, and Hermione moved to the door, opening it and snatching him inside like a viper going for the kill. They all grinned at him, and Ron stared at them for a moment before the ceiling caught his eye.

"Bloody hell!" He breathed, "That's impressive."

Hermione beamed, "We should go back out before we get caught." She murmured, looping her arm through Harry's.

They found Remus and Sirius in the kitchen hissing at each other and laughing, startling and trying to hide something from Harry when they noticed the kids. "Go on outside." Sirius shooed them, and Harry narrowed his eyes at his godfather, getting only a smile in return.

Molly tucked Harry under her arm, hugging him tightly, "I'm so very glad, Harry." She murmured, and Harry didn't need her to explain what she was glad about, "You are really very loved, and it's about time you were shown that."

"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley." Harry told her, "You've helped. Really a lot. You made me feel part of the family."

Her face was kind and thankful to him, and she pulled him in for another hug, arms tight. "You are part of the family, dear." Petting through his hair, she finally released him to go sit with the others, Harry knocking his shoulder into Ginny and smiling when she turned to smile to him.

"Harry..." She started, then took a breath, "be careful this year. I don't know what's coming, but I feel...antsy."

Harry considered her for a long moment, nodding slowly, "I will do."

She nodded quietly, and then the twins were throwing around conjecture about something called Puking Pasties, and Ginny was pulled into their conversation once more.

Hermione looked worried, and Ron looked grim; both having heard the warning and neither liking the prospect of what could possibly happen to Harry next.

By the time Harry had cut the cake, and everyone had sung several different version of 'happy birthday' several times to make sure they'd gotten it right, everyone was ready to go to their beds; pleasantly stuffed and merry as kings. The Weasleys and Hermione gathered to use the Floo, Cedric Dissaparating with Neville after wishing Harry a quiet happy birthday for the hundredth time. Harry sighed as Sirius pulled him under his arm, walking with him up to the house. "That was great fun...thank you."

"Next year will be better." Sirius promised, "More planned."

"It worked out."

"It did, but I'm still horrified we forgot." Sirius agreed, voice tight.

"Still better than all of my birthdays combined." Harry yawned, nodding as Sirius clapped him gently on the back as he deposited the tired young man at his bedroom.

Remus smiled at him, and Harry tripped forwards, hugging Remus then hugging Sirius, tripping backwards through his door next second and stumbling into bed. Remus chuckled, taking in Hedwig perched above Anariel's makeshift nest, watching over the newborn. Remus hummed softly, but she looked affronted that he thought this apparent concern was for the babe.

Shaking his head quietly, Remus palmed the door closed and nearly crashed into Sirius as his fiancée stood in their own doorway, staring at the ceiling open-mouthed. Remus looked up and gasped softly, staring at the stars spread out where their roof should be. "They figured it out." He muttered, laughing to himself, "I wish I could say I was surprised."

Sirius let out a low, disbelieving laugh, shaking his head, "Must've gotten Cedric to charm it."

"Resourceful, that boy is."

"Hermione could rule us all."

"Oh, probably."

Sirius turned and wrapped around Remus, kissing him softly. Remus popped Sirius's buttons open slowly, smiling at him flirtily. Sirius chuckled, sneaking his his hands up under Remus's jumper, reaching upwards until he could tweak Remus's nipples. Sirius kissed under Remus's jaw, gently tugging the fabric slowly upwards. Remus raised his arms, letting his hands fall to Sirius's shoulders, curling against his skin, brushing his knuckles against the back of his neck. Sirius gripped Remus's hips, bringing him in closer, rocking gently and kissing along his features, nuzzling against his throat as Sirius slid his hands down, squeezing his ass with an evil smile. Remus scoffed, dropping his pants carelessly and raising a brow at Sirius. Laughing delightedly at the challenge in Remus's eyes, Sirius finished stripping himself, colliding with Remus's chest and walking them backward until Remus's knees connected with the bed, making him fall back, supported into a luxurious kiss as Sirius bent over him.

Remus scooted back on the bed, smiling as Sirius climbed on after him, grinning himself. Remus laid back, his eyes dark and half-lidded under his lashes, his skin flushed and his cock slowly filling. Remus reached down, wrapping his hand around his cock as he stared at Sirius.

Sirius licked his lips, watching as Remus pumped himself slowly, his own cock filling quickly as Remus went torturously slow on himself, his body shivering against the bed as Sirius let out a hard breath. Sirius looked at him like a starved man presented with a five-course dinner, and Remus let out a small moan, his thumb working over his slit to smear precum down his length. "Stop." Sirius ordered, voice rougher than sandpaper. Remus obeyed at once, his hand flying to the bedspread and gripping. Sirius swore, groping for his wand and conjuring lube, almost fumbling he wanted Remus so badly. Remus chuckled, wrapping his legs around Sirius's hips and squeezing, catching his eyes and grinning at him, making him smile and relax. Remus reached for him, bringing him in until he could kiss him, slow and soft. Sirius kissed his forehead, grinning against his skin. Remus gripped his shoulders as Sirius worked his slick fingers into him, twisting gently and spreading him to Remus's desperate gasp.

"Please, now."

Sirius hushed him, kissing his throat. Remus swallowed, forcing himself to breathe evenly. He brought Sirius up for a kiss before long, his hands tangled in Sirius's hair, short and soft as he'd worn it before Azkaban. Slowly, Sirius worked his fingers back out, moving his mouth to Remus's jugular covering his pulse, his tongue tickling along the vein.

Remus sighed, giving an aborted buck down as Sirius finally drew his fingers out. Remus groaned happily, rubbing at Sirius's shoulders as he shifted and pressed slowly in. Remus wrapped his legs around Sirius's waist, smiling lazily as Sirius slowly worked his hips into a pace, sipping air as Sirius shifted and hit his prostate in the next moment. Remus swore, cursing Sirius for his cheating ways: Sirius had gotten to him the night before the Cup, and that was all he needed to remember every trick in his personal playbook to turn Remus into a useless mess.

Remus gasped into Sirius kisses, laughing gently as Sirius rumbled a low, vibrating growl, teasing him. Remus laughed openly as Sirius nipped lightly at his neck, his own chuckles smothered into Remus. Remus gasped and moaned, his back bending to push down harder, his head thrown back as Sirius set his teeth around Remus's shoulder, not biting down but simply present as the hand he had around Remus's back pulled Remus in impossibly close and groaned through his orgasm, Remus releasing the deathgrip he had on Sirius's shoulders as he came. Sirius laughed, joy clear in his eyes as he watched Remus come down, unsure why they were laughing, but happy for it. Remus pulled him into kisses that could barely be defined as such; the both of them sniggering.

"This is really amazing," Remus panted, signalling with his chin to the ceiling. Sirius chuckled, cuddled beside him and rubbing his rough palm over Remus's chest, almost in wonderment that his chest was intact. Remus swallowed, catching his hand and pressing it to his heartbeat before he brought it up to his lips, leaving a chaste kiss. Sirius smirked, tsking gently before he lowered his mouth to Remus's chest instead; kissing along his ribcage and slathering attention over the bruising just barely there. Remus hummed, passing the hand not holding Sirius's through the black hair. "I never want to lose you again."

"You won't," Sirius replied, "stuck with me forever now, Moony. Married and everything." Laughing again, Sirius got so far down as to put a careful hickey on Remus's hip. "The rest is a party. Telling everyone? That's the hard bit."

Remus gulped, looking concerned, "Where's the collar for Padfoot?"

"'S on the dresser." Sirius murmured, then groaned as he stood and padded over to it, plucking up a lone sock from his drawer and scurrying back, curling up beside Remus, handing him the collar and using the sock to carefully clean what was left of the mess on Remus's belly. Remus tangled his hand in Sirius's hair, and he looked up to see Remus's eyes dark, the collar dangling in his grasp. "What?"

Sirius leaned closer, concerned now, and Remus looked down at the collar then back up to him. "Are you sure?"

"About marrying you? I have no better prosepects, mostly because there is no one better for me than you. About following you and Harry? He gets in trouble more than we used to: and what the bloody hell else am I supposed to do while the two most precious people to me are going to a school that has had the disembodied Voldemort twice and a Basilisk running about?"

"Padfoot's never..."

"If we're using the collar as a metaphor for being tied down, we both know that's not true. And so did James." Sirius reminded him, cracking up as he did. Remus winced, smacking him in the side.

"Not like that, you git!" Remus protested, and Sirius chuckled, kissing him softly.

"How about this? I'll leave you to your free lesson at end of day and come home, cook dinner and give you some time alone to grade and the like--"

"Sirius, it's not that I'm worried about sharing my day with you, it's that you'll get unbearably bored and be so ready to leave--"

"From what I hear, your class is anything but boring; and even if I did get antsy, Remus, I'm sure you can explain a great black dog reading a first edition." Remus snorted, his brows pulling together despite the amusement. "Remus..." Sirius sighed, shifting up and kissing his forehead, down his cheek. He took the collar from him and fastened it around his neck, looking at him like he dared Remus to say a thing.

Remus sucked in a breath, his pupils blowing even more than they had while Sirius had been fucking him, and Sirius smiled, evil and devious, leaning forward and sliding his arms around Remus's body and turning over until Sirius was laying under him, a hand cupped around his neck and jaw. Remus chuckled, brushing his own fingers under the softened fabric of the collar, biting his lower lip. "What, exactly, do you think you're--oh." Remus laughed, breaking off into a moan as Sirius's fingers pressed against him, but not in. Remus's hips rolled, and Sirius sucked his lip into his mouth, pressing his finger in and laving his tongue over the captured lip. Remus wrapped his hand around Sirius, stroking him slowly. Sirius hissed, his fingers curling against his back, but it wasn't long until he was getting hard, whimpering as Remus tugged on his collar and licked along his jaw, raspy with stubble again. "Sure you're up for this, old man?"

"I'll find a way to manage." Sirius countered, and Remus keened as he thrust his fingers into his prostate, milking the pleasure from that bundle of nerves into Remus's blood stream. Remus pressed his face into the side of Sirius's neck, his whole body quivering, but his teeth brushed Sirius's skin as he bit down on the collar, and Sirius's fingers were suddenly, devastatingly gone. Sirius didn't allow so much as a bereft whimper, moving Remus onto him quickly, catching the hand Remus had had wrapped around his cock and wrapping their hands together as Remus panted, seated fully on Sirius's dick and taking a shaking moment before he could move, his hand squeezing Sirius's as he shuddered at the way Sirius felt in the changed position. Remus found himself riding Sirius like a man possessed, and Sirius's dark eyes stared up at him, meeting his thrusts as he watched Remus make himself fall apart on his cock.

The heat and desperation had Sirius just holding on for the ride of it; laughing huskily as Remus hooked one finger under the collar, picking him up off the bed to kiss him, wet and dirty. Sirius laughed again, rubbing up Remus's thighs as Remus just dropped him back on the bed, grinning back darkly.

"I think the collar was the best idea I've ever bloody had." Sirius moaned.

"Mmm, quite." Remus chuckled, hissing as he shifted; his muscles contracting around Sirius as his slow rolling pushed Sirius against his prostate. Remus groaned, letting himself be brought down into Sirius's arms, kisses lavished over his lips as Sirius rolled, Remus's legs wrapping around his waist, a pillow sliding under his hips as Sirius balanced on his knees, his hips writhing more than thrusting, a slow, undulating drag against his prostate. "Oh Merlin, Sirius..."

"I know, Moony." Sirius panted. He wrapped a hand around Remus, teasing his thumb under the head of his cock and thumbing his slit, Remus crying out almost angrily as he came, his body locking down and his fingers digging into the back of Sirius's neck as he stroked his orgasm from him, bending to kiss the aftershocks away as his own orgasm shuddered through him, leaving him exhausted and ready to wrap around Remus and not let go until well after daylight. Sirius kissed Remus over and over, easing himself out of Remus, trailing kisses down his shoulder as he lowered himself down, turning Remus over with warm, strong hands and parting his cheeks, his tongue licking into him, gathering his own cum on his tongue. Remus moaned, his fist curling in the pillow and his hips moving back into Sirius's attention, trying not to fuck himself on Sirius's tongue.

"I can't come...I can't come again." Remus begged, burying his face into the pillow.

Sirius rubbed a hand up his flank, soothing as he pressed the flat of his tongue against the edge, Remus jolting in pleasure anyway, groaning as the pleasure took on a hint of pain, his body unable to do much but make him drunk on the sensation. Sirius kissed up his back, spreading the blanket up and taking Remus in his arms, wrapping his long legs around him greedily and brushing his nose against Remus's cheek with a lazy smile. "Are you okay?"

"I hate you." Remus moaned, "So much."

Sirius laughed, tugging Remus's hair gently out of his face. He brushed kisses over his lower lip, bundling them up as cozily as he could, looking up at the stars. "I love you, too."

Remus woke with his face pressed against Sirius's heartbeat, his hands curled into the bed on either side of Sirius like he'd been having a nightmare. The man himself was petting down Remus's back gently, soothing him, and Remus knew he couldn't have been that far off.

"What happened?" He sighed, tired still.

"I had a nightmare, went to check on Harry, and when I came back, you trapped me against the bed." Sirius rumbled, pressing a kiss to his head.

"Mmm, good. Better than I thought the answer was gunna be."

Sirius chuckled, gently loosening Remus's grip and rolling him over on the bed. He kissed Remus slowly, and smiled, "I'm going to make breakfast. Harry and I are going to leave for King's Cross on the bike, Hagrid's lent it back for the day. You can join us at King's Cross, or meet me at the Cauldron, or just go to your precious classroom, my love, but it is time to get up."

Remus groaned, but nodded, catching Sirius with a put-out look and demanding a kiss before the other man abandoned him.

Remus dragged himself to breakfast with a worn smile at Harry, patting down the largest of the spikes his hair had whipped itself into as he passed and hugged Sirius from behind. "I don't want to go to work, Harry!" Remus whined.

Harry snorted, "You don't even have to go to work yet."

"Come along, sleepyheads: we must be getting on." Sirius rallied, "Eat and be merry, the pair of you."

Harry snorted into his porridge, giggling at Sirius's mocking growl. Remus took his own bowl to the table, trying to ruffle the spike from Harry's head again on his way, and Harry grunted, shaking his head. "No use. Mind of its own."

"Your father had the same trouble. He just didn't get quite the impressive sculpture of bedhead." Sirius told him, sitting down to his own breakfast amiably.

"That's your mother's. We had to come up with a de-tangling charm, Lily and I. Sirius was our unwitting test subject."

"Is that how you turned my hair butterscotch yellow?"

"Yes." Harry tilted his head, looking at his godfather in abstract and narrowing his eyes to try to picture it.

Sirius grinned at him, "Are you excited?"

"I am." Harry admitted. Hagrid's motorcycle could be heard flying into the back garden, Hagrid laughing merrily as he swung off of the bike, Harry tumbling out to go see him. "Hagrid!" He leapt into a hug with the half-giant, laughing.

"Looks like a righ' party went on here! Sorry to've missed it!" Hagrid laughed jovially, mussing Harry's hair. "Where's yer godparents?"

"Inside." Harry replied, leading Hagrid in. Remus caught Sirius from flicking his wand at the door, smiling minutely because he'd already performed a charm for all of the doorways of the house to grow taller and wider to allow Hagrid entry without stooping. Sirius sat back, smiling back amusedly, and caught up Remus's hand to kiss his knuckles in appreciation.

"A'ight, there, Sirius; Remus?"

Both men nodded, "Ta."

Harry slid back into his seat, wolfing down his food.

"Thanks for bringing her by, Hagrid." Sirius murmured, handing Hagrid a cup of tea in a flagon large enough for the half-giant. "And you mentioned that you wanted me to look at 'er?"

"Yeah, 'm not very good with the tinkerin'. Hand's're too big. If you could check that everything's al'ight, I'd 'preciate it."

"Of course." Sirius shrugged, smiling, "Thanks for letting me borrow her back."

"Not at all." Hagrid chuckled. He turned to Remus, "I don' wish to alarm ya, but 've found...well, I think there may be a whole pack of werewolves in the Forbidden Forest."

Remus paled, his eyes going dark as he considered it. "What have they been hunting?"

"Found the carcasses of six of the Ireye Tor rabbits so far."

"That's a hefty pack." Sirius muttered darkly.

Remus looked at Harry, reaching for his shoulder with a reassuring look, "No one's in danger, Harry."

"I don't understand: why would...?"

"Some wolves form packs because they want to be more wolf than man, Harry. The wizarding world is not very welcoming to a wolf; you've head of this already." Sirius explained, "This pack is probably here because Remus is working at the castle for the second year, because he's got a home and a family with us. They don't think it right."

"They'll try to convince the wolf to join their pack, a self-fulfilling prophecy that wolves can't make it in the wizarding world--they'd push me to ruin my chance." Remus told him sadly, "I'm an anomaly, being a wizard who was bitten before getting my education. Wolves don't like that."

"That's idiotic!" Harry exclaimed, "If they're sabotaging you--"

"They won't succeed," Sirius assured him, cutting off the argument for logic, "the self-fulfilling prophecy won't continue with our Remus."

Harry didn't look entirely satisfied, but he sighed, getting up from the table and going to get his clothes on, his trunk already at the front door with Hedwig's cage balanced on top. Remus turned back to Hagrid, "I can go speak with them--"

"No," Sirius hissed, "Remus, you'll do no such thing. They want you to join their pack. I remember the last time--"

"You and I weren't fully bonded last time, Pads." Remus whispered back, careful that Harry might hear them. "I'm stronger this time, and I have a responsibility to make sure that this pack won't go hunting on school grounds when they can't convince me to join them."

Sirius's argument died on his throat, his eyes dimming, "You don't go alone." He bargained.

"I'll go with ya," Hagrid offered, "give 'em a right scare."

"I'm coming, too." Sirius told him.

"Oh, no. No, you're not, Siri. They figure out I'm mated to you, and we run the risk of getting your throat torn out even more than we run the risk of them open-hunting students."

"Harry's right, this is utter absurdity!"

"Well, if you have a plan for changing hundreds of years of mistrust and abuse, I'm all ears, Pads." Remus sighed, "There's too much that needs to change before we can make any kind of difference."

Sirius was seething, "I can't even speak out about this without risking revealing your secret..."

"No, you can't." Remus replied simply.

"Remus," Harry asked from the doorway, "why can't it be known?"

Remus took a deep breath, looking down at his hands, "It's not so very simple, Harry."

Hagrid snorted, "'Cause it was a right miracle that Professor Dumbledore accepts people li' me an' Remus ta Hogwarts, Harry: Most won't."

Harry came in and sat down, looking at Remus, "But Dumbledore already knows..."

"If someone like Lucius Malfoy got involved, Harry; if he knew..." Sirius didn't have to explain any further, Harry's face hardening before their eyes.

"It's not right." He whispered, voice rough.

"No, it isn't." Remus agreed, laying a hand on his shoulder, "But it's the way the world works. Now: are you ready?"

Harry nodded, his lips still tightly unhappy. Sirius got up to carry the trunk to the motorbike, and Remus pulled Harry into a hug.

"I've had a charmed life in many respects, Harry. You and Sirius being the biggest of them. For now, Sirius can't speak out. But when the time comes for me to move on from Hogwarts, Harry...well, I may well let him then."

Harry didn't look any happier, but he nodded, "I understand."

Remus smiled at him warmly, ruffling his hair, and Hagrid and Harry followed Remus out onto the back lawn as Sirius strapped down Harry's trunk and Hedwig's empty cage, the snowy owl having already flown up to the castle.

Remus walked back into the house with Hagrid once the roar of the flying motorbike had faded away, sighing as he offered Hagrid tea. "I'd best to change into something that will take a traipse through the Forbidden Forest." Remus told him, clapping him on the arm, "With Sirius well and truly occupied, it's now or never."

Hagrid nodded solemnly, and they were on their way down to the castle grounds before long, Hagrid happily munching on some leftover birthday cake as they made their way. "I'm right glad Harry's with you and Sirius now, Professor. He's 'appier than I've ever seen 'im!"

"I only wish it could've come sooner." Remus agreed, "Sirius and I owe you for all you've done for Harry. You are one of the very few people Sirius and I would trust Harry's life to, and I'm not exaggerating to say that you command a great deal of respect and admiration in our household."

Hagrid was bright red and on the verge of weeping as Remus slung an arm up to pat him comfortingly on the back, chagrined that the truth had made Hagrid cry but also set in the knowledge that it had to be said. Hagrid stopped off at his cabin to grab up his crossbow, and Remus waited outside, looking up at the outline of the castle in the bright blue sky. "I'm sorry I had ta miss the party, Remus--" Hagrid began as he heaved himself out of the door, ready.

"Not at all, Hagrid: It's still a surprise for Harry that the Triwizard is going on, but he fully understood that you had other duties you had to see to first, especially this close to school opening. Harry was the model for me at the start of summer break; if he was doing his homework, I'd ought to be preparing." Hagrid laughed, nodding to that, "Just out of curiosity, what were you doing last night?"

"'Ad to look up care of Pegasuses. The Beauxbatons' headmistress breeds 'em, and the coach will be pulled with 'em. Las' night I was up at the Hogshead for a year's supply of enough single-malt whiskey to keep 'em watered."

Remus's brows went up, and he let out a low whistle. "I do not envy you your job."

Hagrid laughed, "'S not them I'm worried abou'."

"That's ominous." Remus muttered darkly, and Hagrid shook his great head. "How's old Witherwings?" Remus asked conversationally, and Hagrid beamed.

"He's doin' great! 'E liked havin' Sirius and Harry over ta play with...Harry's right good at flyin' 'im now."

Remus's lips thinned, but it didn't detract any joviality from him, "I'm glad. And thank you for letting them sneak over to work on the library. I daresay it's the best gift I've ever been given."

"Eh, I was happy to get to help 'em. And ta see Harry so happy..."

Remus looked up at Hagrid, "Thank you, Hagrid. For everything you've given him."

Hagrid grunted, looking at the ground, "He deserves it."

Remus smiled, turning his attention to the forest and the pack they were hunting down. Remus knew they were getting close; being watched. Werewolves gathering en masse heightened the senses, and Remus could feel the shiver of instinct running through him like an electric heartbeat. He sipped in a breath, trying to center his senses and calm himself down, but it was horribly strong, and Remus felt a cold curl of dread in his chest. He knew whose pack this was; it had to be...

Fenrir Greyback, the man that had bitten little Remus Lupin years and years ago was before them where a moment ago there had been empty air. He smiled, the cold curl of his lips making Remus's chest seize for the fright in thousands of nightmares about the most evil man the little Remus had known for a very long time.

 _Think of Harry..._ He told himself, and straightened, raising his chin defiantly. Harry had faced a far greater evil at a much younger age, and had the strength and courage to face him again and again. "Greyback."

"Ah, the little Lupin...so good to see you."

Remus reacted to his instincts before he could register what those instincts were. He'd gotten between Hagrid and the pouncing female, pinning her by the throat to the forest floor, his features a mask of icy violence. "I came to speak to you peacefully." He raised his voice, managing the tone of icy disdain even as the volume reached a bellow. Other wolves showed themselves rather than be taken down in an attack, and Remus watched them all appear, stony faced. "Curious that a pack of this size should be allowed on centaur territory."

Greyback hissed at him, and Remus smiled slowly, letting the female up without taking his eyes off of his sire. "Not as if you have any concern for your own kind."

"My concern is for the children in my care." Remus retorted testily. "You hunt children."

There was a ripple of unease through the pack, and Remus knew Greyback hadn't told his pack about his reasons for going after Remus Lupin.

"You turned me when I was only four, Greyback, because my father had given a job to one of your wolves. I will not have history repeating."

Hagrid stiffened, and Remus wondered what he could possibly be sensing that Remus couldn't.

The female was staring at Greyback, unsure, and Remus smiled slowly, "You can try, if you wish. But _when_ you fail, you leave this forest." Greyback snarled at him, and Remus watched as the wolves circled closer to him, no longer paying attention to Remus and Hagrid as threats. Hagrid and he retreated, only turning their backs when Remus's senses began to level out, a signal they were no longer surrounded.

"Harry told you 'bout Aragog, I'd reckon." Hagrid muttered quietly as they came to the edge of the forest. Remus nodded silently, "'E won't much like 'em being here, either."

"Follow the spiders?"

Hagrid nodded his head gruffly, and Remus grinned, thanking him. Remus and Hagrid made their goodbyes at Hagrid's cabin, Remus walking for the gates and Apparating just as soon as he was outside of the wards put on the school grounds. Finding the Weasleys proved to be easier than Remus had expected, catching sight of the sea of red hair and walking over to them, knowing that his own family would be drawn in like a beacon once Harry and Sirius arrived.

Remus hugged Hermione happily, and greeted Fred and George with a wry smile. "Ready for another year's mayhem, lads?"

Both boys saluted, and Remus grinned. Harry and Sirius caught up quickly, both of them glaring at Remus. "Already?"

Remus shrugged one shoulder, "Had to."

"Uh-huh." Sirius and Harry grunted in unison. Harry accepted a hug from Mrs. Weasley, helping Hermione with her trunk.

"Hedwig meeting us?" Hermione asked conversationally, and Harry nodded.

"Ah! That reminds me." Sirius murmured, a look of consternation furrowing his brow. He pulled his hands out from behind his back, handing a birdcage to Ron with a small flourish. "Tested rigorously: not an Animagus. This chap is completely and totally an owl." Sirius told him, and Ron lit up, his eyes flying wide as he took the cage, the small, curious little fellow hooting at him softly. "Name him well."

"Thank you!" Ron exclaimed, "'E's brilliant!" Ron nudged Hermione, eyes huge.

"Oh," Molly clucked, shooting Sirius a look, and he demurred.

"I cost him his rat, Molly; it's only fair." Sirius murmured, holding his hand out to offer Crookshanks a scratch under the chin as the great ball of fur wound across Hermione's shoulders. With his hands free, he pulled Remus close, Harry drifting to the two of them. Remus reached out and ruffled his hair, Sirius tugging his shirt to get out the wrinkles.

"I'll see you both soon enough." Harry laughed at them.

"Yes, well...'s not going to be the same." Sirius murmured, "Have a good trip. I won't be joining the feast tonight, but you'll see Remus there."

"Oh, it'll be so much easier to keep him out of trouble!" Remus remarked, and both Sirius and Harry grinned; it didn't matter which one of them he meant. Harry hugged them both, the children hopping onto the train, leaning out of the windows waving and beaming.

Remus leaned into Sirius's arms, wrapping his arm around Sirius and squeezing in comfort, "We'll keep him safe." Sirius told him like he was the one that needed assurance.

"I know." Remus whispered, kissing the corner of his mouth as the train began to chug out of the platform. Sirius jerked away, taking a shaky step forward like he wanted to chase after it, Remus's hand sliding down into his. Sirius turned back to him, eyes sad. Remus brought him back, kissing the tip of his nose, "Come along, Pads. I need to research, and you need to gather what we need."

Sirius hummed, "What happens if Dumbledore finds out?"

"You think he will."

"There are only so many phoenixes in the world, Remus. Shopping for supplies for one might well draw some attention."

Remus looked grim, nodding. He smiled as Molly turned back from watching the train fade into the distance, accepting a hug from her. "No Arthur this year?"

"No, he's been called in at the Malfoy estate." She told him, and an expression of gossip passed over her features, leading her to tug the two men close so that she might share what she knew. "Lucius hasn't been seen since the World Cup. Narcissa has gone so far as to call the authorities in."

Sirius looked at Remus, pale, and Molly hummed in assent, nodding, her hawk-eyed look pinning.

"If he was the culprit behind the attack at the Cup..."

"...There's someone with a larger agenda, and Lucius made the mistake of bollocksing it up, like he did with Voldemort's journal."

Molly hissed at the use of the name, but Remus and Sirius ignored it. "Harry isn't safe." Sirius murmured darkly.

"We will be there." Remus told him fiercely.

"You'd best to keep him safe." Molly scolded tightly.

Molly's features softened, "Come for dinner tonight, Sirius, as Remus will be away."

"Thank you, Molly." Sirius smiled, accepting a kiss to the cheek and moving for the two of them to walk out her out.

Walking into Diagon Alley together, Remus grinned before parting ways with Sirius, squeezing his hand in lieu of another display of affection. Sirius came to find him an hour later in Flourish and Blotts, his shopping braced on his hip.

"I'd ask if you want a ride home, but I'm lucky to have gotten my hearing back from the last time you were on my motorcycle." Sirius murmured, amused at finding the love of his life half-buried by books. He turned to the shopkeeper, indicating that Remus was buying the lot before Remus could protest anything, quickly escaping with the short wizard to the till instead of waiting for Remus to tell him systematically that he really didn't need half the books he'd picked up, he'd just picked them up out of idle curiosity. By the time Remus made his way to Sirius, the other man had pressed over his Galleons and had even bought a present for Harry, turning to smile at Remus as if he were innocent.

"Really, Sirius--"

"Really, Remus." Sirius told him in mock seriousness, then smiled as Remus huffed and handed the books over to be packaged. "It's not like it's all pleasure reading, and even if it were, I happen to like it when you're pleased."

Remus sighed through his nose, rolling his eyes as he took the parcel back, "I'll go home by Floo; as you say, the last time I was on that infernal bike of yours, I nearly died."

"I did not say that at all, as it's not true. You were perfectly safe."

Remus snorted, letting Sirius walk him out of the book store, "Do you ever wonder what would've happened if James hadn't thrown us into each other?"

"I don't have to wonder." Sirius replied simply, "I would've wanted you...and never thought I could have you..."

"You never would've made your move?" Remus asked, genuinely startled.

"I didn't know if you would be interested, Remus. You never dated anyone, boy or girl; I thought you just didn't want anyone--"

"I didn't want _anyone_ , I wanted _you_. You were always it for me."

Sirius wrapped an arm around Remus's waist, kissing him softly. "When? When did you know?" he breathed, only separating to open the door to the Leaky Cauldron for Remus.

"I think the first time I fell in with you and James, Pads. I wasn't exactly Marauder material, let's face it: but that first prank, with you glowing like a little shit without a care in the world...that was it for me. I wanted you then."

Sirius drew them into one of the darker corners, kissing Remus for a long time. "I knew...I knew on the bloody _train_ , Moony. I saw you sitting there with your books and your quiet and I knew you had to be a part of my world, one way or another, for the rest of my life."

"Oh? And what was the other way?"

"Making you miserable trying to be your friend."

Both of them laughed, Remus holding onto the back of Sirius's jacket almost unconsciously, their heads bowed together. "I much prefer this way..." Remus sighed. "But I can see how it might've gone the other way, too."

Sirius pressed his lips to Remus's cheek, his temple, his forehead. "I'll see you at home, old man."

"Mmm, I'll make lunch. Give me the supplies, it'll be faster if I take them."

Sirius smiled at him, handing over all but one small parcel, "This one I keep until we get home."

"Okay..." Remus agreed, letting himself sound nervous of what Sirius Black could possibly have in store. Sirius smiled, and kissed him soundly.

"See you soon."

Remus nodded dazedly, turning to the fireplace as Sirius disappeared in the crowd towards the front of the pub to go out and collect the flying motorbike. Remus was absurdly grateful that the motorbike was Hagrid's now; he worried, more than he could say, that Sirius would end up dead in his daredevil ways. He remembered Sirius when they'd been apart during the war--how James had had to intervene when Sirius got into duel after duel with Purebloods, just on the off chance he might find a Death Eater. Sirius was more than match, but for those horrible months, James had been the only remaining link Remus had had to Sirius and vice versa. James had seen Remus after moons alone and he'd seen Remus sick with worry and fear that he'd well and truly and forever lose his mate to his foolhearted not-really-heroism. James had started a row that lasted three weeks, both of them thoroughly steamed, and it'd only broken with the news that Lily was expecting.

Remus remembered the party Sirius had thrown for them, though it was hardly a party. It had been the first time he and Sirius had allowed themselves in a room together in over a year, and Remus had ached to just kiss him and die doing so. Peter had had the job of keeping them apart, though; because they both knew they'd fall into each other if given half a chance, and neither of them were willing to risk what could've happened if that came to pass.

Looking back, Remus knew that the choice they made might have cost them more than the alternative; being with the person you love, being there, had killed James, and Lily with him--and if Sirius had been lost on a mission, if he were attacked in that tiny flat in London he'd kept to keep himself away from Remus and their cottage in the country, Remus might never have forgiven himself for not being there to help him or to go down by his side. Remus closed his eyes for a moment, pausing from slicing the vegetables and closing his eyes against the thought, mindful of his breathing, of the sensations of the cool droplets on his hands and the warm sunlight streaming through the window before him. Sirius was real and alive and his once more, and Remus would sooner die than let him go without a fight again. Turning to the clatter of Sirius's overexcited return, Remus leaned back at the counter, humming as Sirius boxed him in with his arms, lips at the base of his ear.

"What were you thinking of?" Sirius hummed, chuckling.

"The war...how much I stood to lose if I lost you."

Sirius let out a low groan of protest, setting his chin on Remus's shoulder and leaning his forehead to rest against Remus's jaw. "I have never wanted to think about those things."

"...But you have thought of them."

"I had twelve years to consider, Remus." He whispered, voice rough. "I knew just how losing you would mean the end for me back then...I hadn't known what it'd mean more that I wouldn't be there with you. There were--there still are--nights when all I could see was your gravestone, and me too far away or too bloody busy risking my fool neck to have stopped it."

Remus cleared the tightness in his throat, but couldn't, "Last night...what did you dream?"

Sirius's hands loosened and slipped away from the table, and Remus turned, easing him into an embrace. When the kiss broke, Sirius wrapped his arms around him as tightly as he could, tucking his mouth against Remus's collarbone. "I dreamt that this was a dream; and Harry had died at the hands of those horrible Muggles...and you had tried to tell them they had the wrong man...and they gave you a Kiss for your troubles."

Remus let out a gusty breath, pulling Sirius tighter into his arms and wrapping his hands in Sirius's clothes and hair. "I love you, Siri; I'm real, I'm here."

"I know." Sirius whispered, voice rough, and Remus held him tighter as his next breath shook through him. "I don't think I could survive thinking this is a dream." Remus kissed him, slow and sweet, leaning their foreheads together. "I'm safe, I'm warm..."

"You are...you're here." Remus agreed, because he needed the reassurance, too. Sirius nuzzled him until Remus kissed him, cradling his hands around the back of Sirius's head. Sirius wrapped his arms tight around him, whimpering as Remus ended the kiss. Remus pressed kisses on his cheekbones, rubbing at his sides almost desperately.

"I'm sorry..." Sirius whispered, voice rough.

Remus pulled back enough to look at him, eyes ablaze. "Why on earth...?"

"It's--"

"Sirius, it's only been a few months of freedom. True freedom, without the threat of Azkaban looking over your head. Why on earth do you think it's something to be sorry about...to feel the terror you were put through?"

"Because I am free." Sirius whispered, a line growing between his brows.

Remus clucked, pressing Sirius back against the kitchen counter to push just a little closer, his hands on either of Sirius's cheeks. "You are also a man who has withstood things even those with the freest of consciences were brought low by. You hold more guilt than you have werewolf jokes, and you keep yourself upright even with Azkaban hanging over you like a shroud."

Sirius hid his face down in the crook of Remus's neck, and Remus sighed, giving in to letting him hide.

"You're the strongest man I know."

"'M not as strong as Harry."

Remus didn't argue. He wasn't about to point out that Sirius had been abused, then a runaway; had lost the family he'd made for himself, and then had been thrown in jail for the thought that he was the one that had caused their deaths. Sirius had never faced Voldemort, or battled a Basilisk; but he'd survived Dementors and ran with a werewolf. Tracing a thumb under Sirius's ear, Remus shifted and tilted his face up, kissing him slowly.

Sirius let himself be shakily pushed into a seat, Remus kneeling at his feet, "I'm sorry."

Remus frowned, bringing his hand to Remus's cheek, sneaking a kiss to his palm, "Let me finish lunch, then I'm going to wrap you in my arms until Hogwarts has to tear me away."

Sirius's brows furrowed, but he swallowed and nodded. Remus made quick work of the cooking, sitting with a sigh and reaching out to stroke Sirius's scruffy cheek. Sirius tried to smile for him, but it didn't phase Remus at all; he knew Sirius too well by far to disregard the pain the man was trying to convince him that he wasn't putting himself through. Remus grabbed Sirius's hands before he could start the washing up, and Sirius let himself be tugged along, pushed into the library and wrapped up in Remus's arms, "I'm fine..." he sighed, but he dropped his head to Remus's chest, curling into himself even while Remus wrapped around him.

"Mm-hm." Remus hummed sarcastically in assent, and Sirius smiled into his chest.

"I just..."

"You need to heal." Remus whispered tightly, "You have to let yourself heal."

"I will."

"It doesn't have a time line, Siri. You can't bounce back in all the ways you want to. You've performed bloody miracles for me--just making it this far. _No one_ can do what you've done."

Sirius's hands were gripping the back of Remus's jacket, the fabric protesting under his grip as he pressed his face tight into Remus's heartbeat; eyes closed and a broken whimper falling from his throat.

They ended up collapsed onto the thick carpet before the fireplace, pillows gathered in a nest as Remus held Sirius for hours, stopping his every attempt to deflect with steady hands and the set line of his mouth. Sirius had been hiding this for Harry's sake, Remus understood, but as the hours dwindled between afternoon and evening, Remus ached to stay with him; to see this through. Sirius would hate it, but he had no choice; Remus needed to take care of him. It was at least a half hour into the feast before Sirius even noticed what time it was; that the library had gotten dark and still Remus was lying with him, curled up around his back.

"Remus!" Sirius hissed, and jerked in Remus's arms like was going to yank himself upright, but Remus didn't let go, tucking his face against Sirius's shoulder as he used the unfair advantage of not being entirely human to keep his lover in their small nest away from the world. "No, you lunk-headed git, you have to get to the feast! Let me go, Remus, I'm due at Molly's--and don't for a moment doubt that she will come looking for me if I don't appear."

"I'll not leave you tonight." Remus whispered, "You've hidden these things from Harry and I for too long, Pads: you have to get the poison out, and I am going to be here by your side while you're doing it. Calm down, rest..." With a long hand, Remus ran his fingers through Sirius's hair, easing him back into relaxing in Remus's embrace. Sirius wiggled slightly, and sighed--and it was a testament to how well Remus knew his own stubbornness would win that he let Sirius go enough to slide around in his arms, curling close and wrapping their legs together. Remus closed his eyes as Sirius kissed his face, catching up one hand to bring to his lips. Remus used that hand to stroke away the few clinging tears Sirius had been forced to allow escape.

Minerva McGonagall was paused in the slightly open doorway, a spark of warmth in her heart to hear how these two men she'd known since they were children trapped in loneliness and grief were taking care of each other now. Silently, she ghosted to their bedroom door across the hall, leaving a message for Remus that she did expect to see him ready to teach the next day. Slipping down the stairs as a cat and out the back door through the dog door they'd jokingly installed in the kitchen door, Minerva turned back into herself to greet Hagrid, "All is well. Black's time is catching up with him, though."

Hagrid looked deeply worried at that, shaking his great, bushy head, "Sorry fer draggin' ye from the feast, Professor..."

Minerva laid a hand on Hagrid's arm, "You were concerned for a colleague. And for the wellbeing of a student's caregivers. I'm sorry you dragged yourself away from Madam Maxime." She teased gently, and Hagrid's already-ruddy cheeks turned all the more red.

"If 's only just now 'e's feeling what Azkaban did...I worry, Professor."

"As do I, Hagrid, but if there is any person on this earth that can help Sirius Black through this, it's Remus. I'll confess I never thought of him as the strongest of the four of them; but Remus is more than he has ever let anyone see: more than a werewolf, and more than any other man. He will get Sirius through this, by sheer bloody-mindedness alone."

Hagrid let out a small snort of amusement at that assertion, holding out a hand to help the professor over a small puddle left by the carriages the students rode up in. They arrived at the feast quietly, slipping into their seats with a silent agreement that Minerva would get word to Harry that his godfathers were alright before the boy could worry himself sick. Minerva let Hagrid go to Madame Maxime, pausing at the headmaster's chair to assure him all was well with their returning Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Dumbledore nodded, looking solemnly over the cacophony of students. "Perhaps it was not for the best..." Minerva heard just barely, the muttered admonishment not meant for her ears anyway.

The line of Minerva's mouth tightened, her eyes like flint, and a curl of unease shot through her. She tensed, disapproval tightening her disposition. "Remus is the right choice, Albus!" Minerva snapped before she could stop herself, her nostrils flaring as she glared at him. He looked almost taken aback by this assertion, but Minerva didn't relent, "You've had a professor quite literally attached to the Dark Lord, and another so utterly a buffoon he may well have also been trying to murder the students. Remus is the first competent, interesting, and non-homicidal teacher you've hired for that position for years, Albus, and don't for a second doubt that I and every teacher with a good head on their shoulders won't fight for him to stay."

Abruptly, Minerva stood, sweeeping out of the Dining Hall as Harry, Ron, and Hermione left the last of their own meals.

"Potter!" Minerva called over the slight din of students. Harry turned, finding her in the crowd and doubling back. "I've been down to the house, Potter: Remus and Sirius are both safe and together; they have their hands full with a matter there. Rest assured that Remus will have joined us by class tomorrow."

Harry's ears reddened slightly, but the relief wouldn't do to be hidden from in his bright green eyes, "Thank you, Professor."

Minerva nodded once, "Thought I may catch you with this news before the three of you try to sneak out of grounds." With pursed lips, because Hermione had a tell and Minerva had just hit matters on the nose, she shooed them off to their dormitory, headed for her own quarters for a long, hard look at the hardened knot of unease in her chest.

Hermione knocked her shoulder into Harry, looking wide-eyed and imploringly, and Harry just shrugged, "So she knew...it's not like we're the most difficult to figure out!" Ron retorted to her look.

Huffing, Hermione strode for the girl's staircase without saying goodnight to either of them, and Ron and Harry both shrugged.

"I can't _believe_ Viktor Krum is here! Blimey, Harry, the Tri-Wizard Tournament and the greatest Seeker in the world is visiting Hogwarts--we're gonna get to see him play in the Tournament, I'll bet! Ugh, what I wouldn't give to be old enough!"

"Ron, after the last three years, would you really want to stake your life in a Tournament?"

Ron paused, looking at Harry with a slightly tilted head, "S'pose not..." He relented, shrugging.

"To just have a normal year..."

"Mate, I doubt we'll ever have 'normal'."

~

Remus had Padfoot curled up at his feet at breakfast the next morning, the dog's great, knowing eyes scanning the tables, catching on Harry and winking before moving on, as if getting a feel for the room.

"'S good Remus is here." Ron said thickly between bites of toast.

Harry hummed, jerking his head in a nod without taking his eyes off of the staff table. "Ron...do you ever remember Professor Trelawney being down here for even the start of year feast?"

Ron grunted, raising his head from the helping of hash he'd plopped on his plate. Blinking owlishly up at the staff table, Ron saw the disturbance that had caught Harry's eye; Professor Trelawney's buggy eyes mooning about. "'E'mione!"

Looking up from comparing her time table with Ginny's, Hermione looked up in exasperation.

"She doesn't, no." Ginny answered, tugging her hair back and weaving a plait into it in smooth, efficient movements. "She's usually locked away in her tower..."

The post came pouring in then, in a screech of owls and a hustle of students, ducking and greeting their owls and accepting their packages--things left at home, last-minute gifts for the new school year. Harry greeted Hedwig happily; taking the note from Sirius and his copy of the Daily Prophet and letting her help herself to his eggs.

_'Harry,_

_Remus and I are both very sorry for alarming you last night: had I been keeping track of time, I would not have let him stay for as long as he did, but he's a stubborn git, and if I'm being honest, having him with me last night was something I needed._

_It's nothing to worry about, but having the both of you gone was too much. I'd thought I was getting myself ready, I hope you understand._

_Remus and I have discussed it; and for discretion's sake, Pads cannot be your shadow, as much as he should like to. But that is not to say that he won't be close by, and don't take Pads not watching over you as an excuse to misbehave. (As our dear Moony would like to point out, my absence would be more of an excuse not to misbehave, as I bring mayhem and mischief where ever I go.)_

_This is the first day in a brilliant year, Harry, and give my regards to Ron and Hermione as well._

_Good luck,_

_S_

"Good lord!" Hermione exclaimed, her eyes huge and her face pale.

From under the teacher's table, Pads perked up, attuned to the familiar voices. He let out a low whine, and Remus stopped chatting to Professor Sprout abruptly, glancing under the table.

"Wha?" Ron demanded, snatching the Prophet out of Hermione's hand. "...Blimey, Harry..."

Harry finally got the paper himself, reading quickly while Hermione signaled to Sirius that they had to talk, they had to talk _immediately_. 'Azkaban Failure: two more dangerous criminals back on the streets.'

Harry pulled out the Marauder's Map, tapping it and mumbling the incantation, quickly reading for a place they could meet privately even as Hermione and Ron tugged Harry to his feet and towards the door, Remus and Pads rising and exiting as well. The trio leapt out of their skins as Pads let out a sharp bark, head jerking towards what looked like a solid wall. Harry read the map, and there was no secret passage there, but Remus waved them along, shooting a glare at Peeves with thin lips, "You owe me this one, Peeves."

The poltergeist blew a raspberry that might have constituted an indoor rainfall if he'd been corporeal enough to have saliva, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione used that opportunity to get head-butted in by Pads, Remus slipping behind them a moment later.

As soon as the stone door had slid closed, torches sprang to life around the little room, Sirius standing as a man in the middle of it, looking almost reminiscent for the barest of moments. "Why isn't this in...?"

"It was off-limits to Peter and James." Sirius explained, "Well, Peter more than James. He'd only come here to bug Moony into helping him flirt with Lily. Peter would've invaded."

Remus sighed, following Sirius as he dropped into a gathering of pillows, Remus sitting beside him with an aged groan. "The paper?" Remus asked, holding his hand out to Harry, who stumbled over handing it over, but Remus just quirked his lips, gesturing for Harry to sit, "This is where Siri and I would come to get some time away. We'd end up here after a row or a long day and Siri would read to me or we'd play Muggle card games, work out what we needed to. This room has seen me try to kill him, once or twice."

"I maintain that I did deserve that, but I did not deserve the verbal reaming I received after that Gryffindor-Ravenclaw match."

Remus was too busy reading by now, and Sirius's mirthful mood drained as he watched his lover react, only growing older and more grey as he read for himself. "...Bellatrix Lestrange and Peter..."

"They _knew_." Sirius's voice was fierce to the point of ire, and Hermione's hand curled around Harry's wrist unconsciously. "They knew he's an Animagus, and still they didn't think to make it a little more difficult to escape..."

"Siri, we will fix this." Remus assured, voice quiet.

"Sirius," Hermione called quietly, almost flinching as his eyes turned to her, "you've...you've been cleared...but...the attack at the Cup--now this...and you're the only person who's ever been able to break out of Azkaban--"

"If he is accused, Hermione," Remus began softly, power flooding every syllable, "Things will go rather badly for the Minister."

Hermione met his eyes, and nodded slowly, "Neville's parents...It was Bellatrix. We should go find him."

"This is as good a reason to miss Potions as ever there was." Ron intoned heavily.

"Severus won't be happy, but I have to agree." Remus murmured, "Go find him, I have a class, but Siri...talk to the headmaster."

Sirius nodded, sighing quietly, "There goes our peaceful reprieve into teaching."

Ron and Harry snorted, Remus and Hermione shaking their heads. "It's Hogwarts: you expected peaceful?" 

It didn't take much for the trio to find Neville: Minerva was waiting by the stairs with him next to her, her expression grave and his catatonic, "Your first class has been canceled. And if you three would be so kind, Mr. Longbottom requires some care." 

"Canceled?" Sirius asked. 

"Severus is speaking to the Headmaster...and the Minister for Magic. An interview, I can only assume, with regards to you. Password is butterscotch ripple." Sirius was taking the steps three at a time, disappearing quickly. Remus nodded his thanks to Minerva, laying a hand on Harry's back before taking his leave of the children, letting his concern show so that Harry could ease it away that he needn't stay. "Remus, you and I need to have a chat." 

Startled, Remus looked up to her, nodding, "Of course." 

"I'll walk you to your class; I've this period free." She offered, trusting Neville to Hermione and the two boys. Ron was babbling about bread pudding always making him feel better, and it seemed that Potter disappeared rather abruptly towards the kitchens soon after. "Remus, I have believed in you and your abilities since I first clapped eyes on you, no matter what anyone else has ever said. So you need to understand: I hold more faith in you than I do in most anyone. That being said, the headmaster is worrying me--has been since you and Sirius took Harry from those beastly Muggles--REMUS?!" 

The man had doubled over beside her, his face gone ashen and his lips white, "S-Sirius..." He choked out, his eyes ringed suddenly with red as he burst into a cold sweat. 

"FRED! GEORGE! Help Professor Lupin to Professor Flitwick's classroom and call for Madam Pomfrey!" Minerva ordered, running even as she was yelling, her chest bursting to make it. 

She drew her wand as soon as she turned the corner for the gargoyle guarding the headmaster's office, and she snarled the words, half-amazed there was enough of a tug of happy memory in her to summon the great, loping lioness from the tip of her wand. Sirius fell to the floor as the Dementor that had been bent over him retreated at the sight of her Patronus, and Minerva ran for him, levering Sirius under one arm and leaning his head against her collarbone, hand cradling his forehead. The gargoyle shifted with a rumble, and Minerva turned her head, eyes incensed and lips a thin line as Snape, Dumbledore, and Cornelius Fudge emerged. 

"Minerva!" Dumbledore breathed, and made to come towards her. 

"NO." She snapped, eyes wild, "You will stay right where you are and bloody well explain to me how you could possibly think this man guilty, and then you will tell me why the bloody hell a Dementor was here waiting for him!" She bellowed, cheeks burning a high rose. 

"Professor M--" 

"I will not be silenced, Albus! I will not be tossed away! What is this madness? Why have Harry forced to go back to those hideous people?! I should have asked why he was there in the first place!" 

"I would not have told you." Albus thundered right back, though his was a benevolent anger. 

"I am a partner here, Albus, and you will not find it so easy to keep me from my answers now. Cornelius, I've expected better of you since the time you were a student here. To flounder for someone to lay blame upon when you're the one at fault? To go so far as to steal a husband and father with a Dementor's Kiss?" 

"Minerva, now: I am Minister--" 

"And, despite what you would no doubt like in these days to come, this is still a free world!" Minerva snapped. 

The men started slightly, and the next thing Minerva knew, Sirius was being lifted from her arms, Madame Maxime helping her to her feet and glaring at the Minister and headmaster. "Zis is an outrage! I 'ave 'eard much about Sirius Black and 'is false imprisonment! I demand an explanation!" 

A Weasley was holding Remus up on either side, and Minerva watched with her heart in her throat as Remus struggled to keep himself upright for the pain. "Remus...is he?" 

"He'll...be alright...both of us need chocolate, though." 

Minerva nodded shortly. "Cornelius, you will banish that damned thing from the grounds immediately, or I shall make your life even more of a hell. Albus, you will see us into your office. Fred; George, thank you both for your help, once I get Remus seated, you may go to the Gryffindor dormitory and find Harry. Request that Ron and Hermione stay with Neville. Madame Maxime...thank you." Minerva swayed slightly on her feet, and one giant hand caught her back, helping to guide her for the gargoyle. 

"I shall send an owl..." Madame Maxime promised quietly, "zis cannot go unchecked." 

"This year of all years." Minerva agreed, thanking the headmistress of Beauxbatons once again as she set Sirius into a chair, Remus falling to the floor before the chair instead of making it to another, waving Fred and George away. "What _were_ you thinking?!" Minerva demanded, turning on Fudge as people trickled out, "Sirius Black is innocent! He more than proved his innocence--!" 

"He is the only living man to have broken out of--" 

"And Peter Pettigrew couldn't have figured it out by, oh, I don't know--following his example, the very thing you were warned about?!" Minerva advanced on Fudge, and Albus raised his hand to intervene, but Minerva made a gesture as though tearing through the air, almost hissing at him. "And you! Are you really so cruel as to be willing to rip Sirius away?! WHAT IS YOUR PLAN?!" 

"Minerva...sit." Albus ordered calmly, but it only served to make her angrier. 

It also served to be a poor choice of words as Madam Pomfrey, Molly Weasley, and Harry tumbled through the door; Harry and Poppy carrying their weight in chocolate and Molly shaking off Floo dust. "My son pops up in my kitchen grate to tell me that all hell has broken loose!" Molly exclaimed, then caught herself with the Minister. 

Before Molly could so much as curtsey to her husband's boss, though, Minerva cut in, "Cornelius and Albus saw fit to leave an unsupervised Dementor in the hall, and Sirius has very nearly been Kissed, Molly." Molly's mouth fell open and then snapped shut, her eyes burning. 

"Why?" 

It was a simple syllable, but the danger inherent behind it made even Harry shudder as he shoved a chunk of chocolate on Sirius's tongue and groaned a wish it would melt faster, work sooner. 

"There have been two recent escapees, Molly--" Albus began. 

Molly's face fell, her eyes widened, and she pointed a shaking finger at Sirius, "And you think...you think Sirius had anything in the world to do with that?!" She shrilled, eyes furious. "Putting a Dementor in a school! And poor Harry, seeing his godfather and Remus like this! I will take my children out of Hogwarts!" She threatened, turning the finger on Dumbledore, "I will take my children from Hogwarts, and I will tell every other mother exactly why."

"And where is Gilderoy Lockhart when you need those Memory Charms, eh, Albus?" Minerva taunted shrewdly, taking down a mug and taking some of the chocolate off Harry, melting it into a rich, thick liquid and helping Harry to administer it to his godfather as Remus and Poppy tried to sort Remus out. 

From the window, two songlike calls reverberated over the castle, and Harry turned his head, reaching out his arm for Anariel as she burst through the window and alit on the offered perch. She bent her head over Sirius, and Minerva manipulated his head so that her tear chased down the chocolate in his throat, a burst of colour going through Sirius as he coughed once, his features screwed up and eyes closed. Minerva let out a breath of relief as he stirred, his eyes opening blearily on Remus and his hand instinctually going for the back of Remus's head, his other moving to find Harry's sleeve as he blinked and looked up at Harry and Anariel. 

She cooed at him, and he smiled at her, shaking now. He looked to Minerva, and she nearly burst into tears at the youth she could see in his eyes; still just a boy after so much. 

Sirius pulled Harry and Remus into his arms, the three of them slumped together. "Either Remus or I have been with Sirius every minute since he was given pardon, Minister." Harry told Fudge from in the tightly clutching circle of family they'd formed. 

"The Boy Who Lived has spoken, Minister: Headmaster, this is not over." As Harry emerged, Molly swooped down, hugging him tightly and then kissing both men on the forehead, looking like a worried mother as she cupped their cheeks and looked at them. 

"I have a class to get to. From what I hear, the headmaster is not keen on my keeping it."Remus groaned, and Poppy and Molly both looked up sharply at Dumbledore, Harry too busy helping the shaky man to his feet to let himself react. 

Sirius looked at Albus from his seat, looking more sunken than he had since Remus had gotten a hold of him again. "That would be a very grave mistake, headmaster." 

Albus raised a brow, and Minerva and Poppy shifted, folding their arms over their chests as Molly helped Harry to take Remus to his classroom. 

"Why would the headmaster do something like this?" Harry asked, voice small and horrified as he and Molly held Remus up. 

"Perhaps he simply doesn't like being wrong." Remus reasoned. "But I'm more given to think...that something is coming, and he knows...he knows, already, what it is and why it's here." 

Molly covered the hand Harry had on Remus's chest with her own, looking around Remus reassuringly. "Mum!" Fred called, racing over to take Molly's place as she and Harry rounded the corner again. George, Ron, and Snape, of all people, were waiting with him, and Remus and Snape regarded each other. 

"You didn't know." Remus croaked. 

Snape gave a sharp shake of his head, and Remus nodded. Ron and George side-eyed Snape as he whirled in a flick of black robes and greasy hair and strode away. Ron nodded to Harry, "Alrigh', Harry?" 

"Alright, you?" 

"Alrigh'." George took Harry's post so that Remus was being supported at an equal height, and Molly pulled her youngest son into a hug. "Mum, wha' are you doing here?" 

"Fred called me to say that Harry needed help." She explained, and even while Harry's heart expanded like a supernova in his chest, Ron simply took that with a shrug, as if it was to be expected. 

"Thank you for coming." Remus murmured softly. "Minerva might've done something drastic if you hadn't arrived to also be angry." Molly clucked, nodding to Harry as he dashed ahead to open the door for the twins and the professor suspended between them. The class stirred, and Remus managed a half-smile at the third year Hufflepuffs and Slytherins, taking his seat with a quiet groan. "This," Remus gestured to himself, "is what a Dementors attack looks like." 

A ripple of whispers and mutters ran through the students. 

"Can anyone tell me what the cure is?" Remus signalled for Harry and the Weasley's to stay if they wished, and when no hands went up, Remus smiled. "Harry, would you be so kind?" 

Harry started a little, colour flooding his ears as he took out his wand. "Dementors bring forth your...your worst memory, the darkest part of your mind. Chocolate cures the side-effects of encountering a Dementor, but there is no cure for a Dementor's kiss." 

A hand shot up, and a ruddy-cheeked Hufflepuff spoke up when Remus nodded to him, "A Dementor's Kiss steals the victim's soul...?"

"That it does, Mr. Jameson." Remus rumbled as proudly as he could looking peaky enough to have been parachuting off the Astronomy Tower. "Can anyone say what will prevent a Dementor from a Kiss?" 

A fragile-looking Slytherin girl raised her own hand, and Remus nodded to her, "A-A Patronus Charm, cast with your happiest memory." 

"Very good Matilda!" Remus clapped his hands together. "Has anyone seen a Patronus?" 

The sea of faces shook their heads, Matilda speaking up again, "It's an incredibly difficult charm to perform..." 

"That it is. Now, you were all here second year while we were playing host to Dementors, yes?" Everyone nodded, "So you've heard the whispers..." Glances were shot nervously towards Harry, and Remus nodded solemnly, "Yes...Harry has seen more horrible things than most: he is affected by Dementors more than any. And for that reason, Harry learned how to produce a Patronus charm...Harry?" 

Harry swallowed, and he sighed out the incantation as happiness filled him with the memory of having a family for the first time in his young life. The stag erupted into the room as the students gasped, Mrs. Weasley looking more proud and astounded than she could ever put to words, and Fred and George both lighting up at the sight of the magic. The class burst into applause, and Harry grinned, scratching the back of his neck. Remus clapped a hand onto his shoulder, and produced his own Patronus for the first time for Harry. Padfoot's unmistakable form exploded from the tip of his wand, tongue lolling from the side of his mouth dopily as he galloped the circumference of the room the same way that Harry's stag had gone. Harry smiled, looking up at Remus. 

"Now, who can tell me why a Patronus would take the form that it will take?" 

Remus nodded to Harry, and he and the Weasleys took their leave quietly, Molly lingering only a little to make sure Remus was really fit enough to keep going. 

"D'you know why he looks so peaky?" Fred asked. 

George cocked a brow before Harry could reply, "He wasn't anywhere near a Dementor, Harry." 

Harry snapped his mouth closed, pursing his lips unwillingly, "He...uh. Sirius was the one attacked. He...could feel it." 

Fred and George looked at each other, then at their mother, "And you couldn't even tell when Dad broke his leg!" 

Molly's lips made a thin line, but there was amusement shining in her eyes. "Ronald Weasley, I expected _you_ to call--" 

"Was with Neville Longbottom, mum: Bellatrix Lestrange is the one that attacked 'is parents!" Ron defended, and Molly seemed to melt. 

"Oh, dear. This has been a hell of a day and it isn't even lunchtime yet." Molly muttered, looking pale. 

"I should go see Sirius." Harry murmured as they climbed back down the staircase toward the headmaster's office. Molly stopped him with a firm hand on his bicep, her head ducking down the mere two inches she still held out on him, and he could see the love and concern in her eyes. She pulled him in, hugging him and planting a kiss on his hair. "Thank you, Mrs. Weasley..." Harry murmured, "Thank you all." 

Harry broke off headed for the headmaster's office once more, and nearly collided with Madame Maxime and Igor Karkaroff, both looking stormy. Madame Maxime snapped out the password to Dumbledore's office, and Harry hesitated for just a moment before following them, neither headmaster noticing their young shadow. 

Sirius still sat in Dumbledore's chair, Madam Pomfrey standing over him while Minerva rallied at Dumbledore, and when Sirius caught sight of his godson behind Madame Maxime's skirts, he perked under Poppy's hand, his eyes gaining back some light. Harry dashed around Madame Maxime and knelt at Sirius's legs, "Remus?" 

"He's alright." Harry answered. 

Sirius's eyes grew darker, "You?" The word was heavy with a protective dread, but Harry just shook his head, leaning into Sirius's arm. "Headmaster..." Sirius broke through Minerva's tirade, his chin raised arrogantly and his eyes steely, "What was your plan? We've yet to hear."

Dumbledore's face gave away nothing. Minerva crossed her arms over her chest, "Consider yourself on probation, headmaster. As deputy headmistress, I will oversee things. Including staffing at Hogwarts." 

Sirius looked at her steadily, and nodded once, groaning as he stood and steadied himself, his hand on Harry's shoulder heavily as he dragged himself forward. 

"Potter, you're excused from Transfiguation while you get your godfather to Remus's office. Tell Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley, and Mr. Longbottom they are exempt should they not turn up for class. You get this _one_." 

"Thank you, Professor." Harry nodded solemnly. 

When they'd reached the hall outside of the headmaster's office, Sirius leaned heavily against the wall, sighing and looking at Harry with near-bleary eyes. "There are many questions even I won't have the answers for, Harry; and Albus Dumbledore has never been a conundrum any could wrap their heads around. But I will protect you with every breath in my body. You and Remus are my world; and Remus would kill me if I even thought of sacrificing myself for him, so you get the both of us." 

Harry didn't laugh, but it was a near thing. He pulled Sirius into a hug tightly, supporting him as they shuffled along, Sirius looking more haggard with each step. They reached Remus's classroom just before class changed, and Sirius took another rest against the wall, smiling hazily. 

"You know, I'd always wanted to be a father...after I fell for Remus, I put that dream away. James had you: Remus and I would be your fun uncles. Peter would've taught you the tricks we used to play, and James and I could've been proud of the Marauder he helped you form into without Remus or Lily killing us for influencing it." Harry snorted slightly, unable to help himself. "Yeah...In another world, Peter would've been a miscreant friend of your parents. If I hadn't had Remus to be my gravity, I would've been the same, to be honest. But now I have you. And I have him. I love you both." 

"I love you, too, Padfoot." Harry told him, throat tight. "We're a family." 

Class let out, and Harry and Sirius managed to slip in while the torrent of students went out. Harry nodded to Remus as they slipped past the desk at the front of the room, Harry half-carrying him up the stairs to his proper office. 

"Dobby?" Harry called clearly, and there was a sharp pop, the house elf appearing before the fireplace. Harry grinned at the house elf, seating Sirius in the chair closest to the fire, "Would you help me out and gather some chocolate from the kitchens? Something to liven up Professor Lupin and Sirius?" 

"Of course, Harry Potter, sir!" Dobby's great, tennis-ball eyes were bright with how eager he was to please Harry Potter. 

"Thank you, Dobby." 

Dobby popped off, and Sirius looked up at Harry, Remus jogging up to join them from the classroom, looking far more alive than he had. "Was that the elf that tried to kill you with a Bludger?" 

"That I then set free from the Malfoy family with a dirty old sock." Harry laughed, his cheeks pink. "His heart was in the right place." 

"Pop quiz, Harry: where can you find a heart in a house elf?" 

"...Judging by the question, I'm going to assume it's not where you'd find a human's..." 

"A house elf's heart is in their lower stomach." Remus laughed, sitting on the low table in front of Sirius, "That was about the same method your father used to use." 

Harry laughed, "How are you, Remus?" Sirius asked. 

Remus reached out, taking Sirius's hand, "I'm a faster healer, Pads." 

"Good." Sirius smiled, "You shouldn't have..." 

"Sirius," Remus sighed, "if there was anything that came of our being mates, my sensing when you're in trouble is one of the few pros on the list." 

"Along with--" 

"No. You get nothing in this deal; this is what I can give to you." 

Sirius shot him a look, tracing his fingers over Remus's ink-stained hands, "How did the lesson go, Professor?" 

"Swimmingly, thanks to Harry." Remus laughed, "That was a wonderfully-produced Patronus, young man!" Remus clapped him on the arm, beaming-proud. 

Sirius grinned, "I'm proud of you, Harry." 

Harry glanced at his watch, and debated how best to tell Ron and Hermione that bringing Neville to Remus's office may well have proven wise when Ron and Hermione stumbled through the door doing just that, Fred, George, Ginny, and Molly on their heels with Neville wrapped securely in a motherly hug from the doting Mrs. Weasley. 

Hermione bypassed Harry, striding for Remus and hugging him as if one more second would make her lose her nerve. He hushed her, chuckling at the outburst, but he comforted her nonetheless. "I'm quite alright, Hermione. Thank you for your concern." 

She sniffed, moving back and ducking her head, "I'm sorry, Professor..." 

The door opened once more, and Cedric Diggory came in looking almost wild until his eyes fell on Harry, "I'd heard that there was an...well, an incident." Cedric said faintly, pulling himself together. 

"Don't look at me," Harry shrugged the concern off, pointing to Remus and Sirius balefully. 

Cedric's bright eyes fell on the two older men, and he took a deep breath, "Are you alright, Professor?" 

"I am, Mr. Diggory. We have class now? Are the Gryffindors all arrived yet?" 

"They have, sir." Cedric nodded respectfully, and Remus nodded, clapping Sirius on the knee. 

"Rest here, you old codger: I'll be back in a jiff." Remus ordered fondly, half-groaning as he stood and bent to kiss Sirius's forehead. 

Molly took a vacated seat, and Neville gravitated towards Harry, "How did you do it?" He asked quietly, and Harry knew by the look at Sirius what Neville meant. 

"I didn't know." Harry explained quietly, "Not for a long time. And by the time I found out...I wanted revenge, it didn't matter that he was older or stronger. You'll be alright, Neville. You will. Ron, Hermione and I will make sure of it." 

"Cheers!" The three other Weasley children chimed, Molly looking proudly to each of them. 

"Neville...Bellatrix--" 

"Was your cousin..." Neville finished Sirius's admission, his voice shaking with anger and sorrow. 

Sirius shut up, nodding respectfully to the young man who was falling apart. Neville took shaking steps towards the table that Remus had been sitting on, collapsing as if his legs had no more to give, and Sirius leaned forward slowly, reaching out one hand tentatively, ready for Neville to recoil before he could lay his hand on the boy's shoulder. Neville seemed to deflate, and tears were welling up in his eyes. Sirius slid to the floor, offering a hug which Neville took like a scared child, and Sirius simply let him cry. "I knew both Bellatrix, before the war; and I knew Frank and Alice...I was there when they were married, Neville. I helped them to hide while they had you, and they loved you with everything in them." 

"They don--they don't recognize me anymore!" Neville sobbed. 

Molly looked heartbroken, but no one dared move, for fear that Neville would try to pull the pieces back together before they could fit back into place. "Would you like me to tell you about them, Neville?" The boy nodded sloppily. "Frank was a friend of mine from childhood: our mothers knew each other. Your grandmother used to scare the living daylights out of me." 

"Sh' scares me, too." Neville nodded. 

"Your father would've been proud to know you're a Gryffindor, Neville. Have you told him?" Neville shook his head, "When I was sorted into Gryffindor instead of Slytherin with the rest of my family, they were furious...but your dad, Neville...he stayed with me, before James Potter or Remus or Peter Pettigrew could have helped. He made sure my parents had to behave at least enough not to cause him to spread the gossip. Your father was very brave like that, though he never thought it was bravery." Sirius smiled slightly. "It's because of your father I think I survived that first winter break, Neville. My father couldn't beat me to death..." Sirius trailed off as if lost in the memory, and Harry felt a slight pressure at his elbow, Dobby's great eyes tearily raised to him as he, too, listened to the story. "With your father sorted into Hufflepuff, though, we fell out of touch the more I avoided going home. He envied me, for breaking the pattern; for being a Gryffindor, or anything, other than the same House my family had been sorted into for generations. He would think your being sorted into Gryffindor is brilliant." 

Neville sniffed, shaking his head, "Gran--" 

"Your father and your gran were not as close as she may have you believe, Neville. He longed for adventure and the chance to do good in the world; it's why he became an Auror. And that you are brave enough to be a Lion? That there was something in you that chose this House? It would have made him damn proud." Neville's cheeks and ears were burning, but he didn't say anything, Sirius rubbing his back soothingly. 

Harry looked down at Dobby, and the house elf was nearly a wreck in silent tears before Hermione caught him up in a hug, and he was bawling like a babe. Neville seemed to realize that he and the soothing voice of Sirius Black weren't the only things in existence, and he looked around the room, his face going back pale again. "Your parents don't remember you?" Ginny asked, voice tight. 

He shook his head, and Ginny pounced into a hug. Neville looked up in time to see Fred and George exchange a look that said 'what we wouldn't give', and he let out a hysterical guffaw of laughter, burying his face in Ginny's soft hair. 

"Ginny, let him down." Harry urged quietly, "Before he breaks." 

She did, but Dobby turned to Harry, his eyes still watery, "Dobby is greatly pleased Harry Potter does not suffer as Master Longbottom or Master Malfoy have--" Dobby stopped with a squeak, his eyes growing wider than they had been a moment ago, but Harry reached for him, kneeling down so that they were eye-to-eye. 

"Dobby, what do you mean that Master Malfoy...do you mean Draco?" 

Dobby whimpered, trying to draw away, and Harry made a tactical retreat, backing off from the subject and turning to the hot chocolate and food Dobby had brought to them. "Thank you, Dobby." Ron spoke up when Harry started handing the mugs around. Dobby was shrunk in on himself, but he looked up at Harry gratefully. 

"Thank you very much: it's so much better than that bitter excuse Minerva was pouring down my throat..." Sirius groaned, his fingers catching up a single drip and licking it from his skin. His grin was complete with the bright eyes of a young boy given a treat for being bad. "Talk to me, you lot. Neville, tell me about your gran. Does she still wear that ridiculous vulture?" 

Neville turned bright red, "She does." 

Sirius burst into barking laughter, and Neville turned more red, but then started to giggle, too, and Harry and the others started snorting, the image of Snape in his grandmother's clothes a vivid and cherished memory in their minds. 

"Neville, your mother used to threaten to start wearing canaries to start working her way up to vultures as they got older whenever they had a row about Alice's involvement in the Order. She was no shrinking violet, your mother. I admired her...I admired them both." 

"Dad didn't want her in the Order?" 

"No, it wasn't that case at all: your father just wanted her safer than she would've chosen. As did James for Lily, but he was smarter than to let her suspect that. We did our qualifications for Aurors together, your mother and I. She whooped me good." 

Neville was glowing with both pride and blush, and Hermione laid a hand on his back, smiling delightedly. "I wish I was half the wizard my father was." 

"If I'm not mistaken, Neville: you carry your father's wand. The wand chooses the wizard, and this wand didn't choose you." Sirius told him earnestly, "Your gran is a great many things, most of them a pain in the arse, but the worst is that she's clinging to the son she's lost rather than adoring the grandson she has. From what Harry, Ron, and Hermione have told me, she ought to be bloody proud of you. Your parents would be." Harry knew, in the abstract, how it felt to hear that: Sirius had told him with great emphasis on his father's love of mischief that there was nothing his parents would've loved more than hearing his adventures and his bravery. Hearing the same said for Neville didn't detract from Sirius's words to him at all; it made his heart hurt to know that Sirius knew two sets of parents now lost to their sons, and that he seemed to be the only one willing to speak up and encourage them. 

When the time for the next class came, Molly had returned to the Burrow, and the twins and Ginny were ordered back to class, but Sirius had inspired such an intense ember of hope in Neville that he wanted to go to class and learn all that he could, and Ron, Hermione, and Harry were ready to go with him, Harry giving Sirius a hug before he left. 

"Be careful." 

"And to think, I'm here to make sure you and the man-beast down there don't get into any trouble," Sirius laughed, clapping him on the back. "Good luck, Harry." 

Sirius drifted to the bookshelves, the empty tank that would soon house a Grindylow. In the quiet, he soaked up all the little bits of Remus he could from this room, smiling to himself because he loved the man so much. 

Sirius rounded the desk to find a cushion hidden under the wide opening, perfectly sized for Padfoot, and Sirius shifted, slipping under the desk and laying down with a doggy groan. 

"Siri?" Remus called, the door opening. Padfoot let out a wuffle, and Remus came 'round the desk, smiling when he saw Padfoot on the plush pillow he'd bought for him. "Hello, darling. Can I have my Sirius back, please?" 

Sirius huffed, but got out from under the desk and shifted, "What's up?"

Remus smiled softly, pressing his lips to Sirius's. "I needed a kiss." He shrugged, grinning impishly. Sirius smiled slowly, bringing himself up to kiss Remus again, longer and deeper this time. 

"Go be a teacher, Moony." 

*~*

Remus and Padfoot were in the Dining Hall as the Goblet of Fire spat up names. Pads let out a short bark of doggy happiness for Cedric--and then a fourth name came out of the Goblet, and Remus was on his feet, Pads halfway out from under the Staff Table as all hell broke loose at Harry Potter's name being put into the Triwizard Tournament. 

Sirius shifted as Dumbledore strode with Harry held by the scruff of his neck into a room off the Dining Hall, just barely out of sight, and Bartimus Crouch followed with Madame Maxime and Igor Karkaroff sweeping into the room behind them. "Zis is an outrage!" Madame Maxime exploded. 

Harry was shaking his head, looking desperately from each headmaster and finally to his guardians. "Harry, did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire?" Dumbledore asked softly. 

"N-No." Harry told him, "I don't..." 

"I'm afraid you must." Dumbledore replied, and that got Sirius's hackles up. 

"Why not just kill the boy yourself, Albus?! Honestly!" Sirius shouted, and Remus pulled Harry out of Dumbledore's grip by the shoulders, turning him and leveling their gazes while Sirius raged on. "As if my godson hasn't gone through enough, now someone's put his name in the bloody Goblet of Fire and he's being _forced_ to participate?!" 

"Sirius, there is no other way." Remus spoke up, voice calm yet somehow carrying more weight than Sirius's had. "The Goblet must have all its choices fulfilled, or it will curse the coward who does not go forward. I don't like this any more than you do, but it has to be." Sirius let out a squawking noise, flailing his hands uselessly at Remus, but the fight had gone out of him with Remus's simple words.

"How do we know he didn't enter in his name?" Igor demanded. 

"Look at him, Karkaroff, and tell me that he'd entered into this willingly." Sirius snapped. 

Crouch was staring at Harry, nodding slowly all the while, "The boy says he did not, and I'm inclined to believe him." 

Remus's grip on Harry's shoulder tightened just a little, and Harry sighed, scared at Sirius's reaction and Remus's concern. "Harry..." 

"I...I'll do this. I can do this." 

"I've no doubt about that." Albus intoned, his voice a dreamy sigh. Harry swallowed, taking an unsteady breath. 

Remus and Sirius went with him back into the Hall, and Hermione was waiting for them, leaping on Harry and wrapping him in her arms, "Harry!" She was shaking she was so scared for him, and he took her hand, touched. 

"It'll be okay, Hermione." He promised softly. "Where's Ron?" 

Hermione looked down and away, swallowing, and biting her lip, "He, uh...he wasn't feeling well." 

"He thinks I put my name in the Goblet of Fire." Harry reasoned, nodding and sighing, bone-tired. 

"I'm sorry." She whispered. 

"Unless you're the one that snuck my name in, Hermione, don't be." 

Remus and Sirius caught Harry's arm before he could follow Hermione back to the dormitories. "If you need us, Floo. Remus snuck a supply into your trunk--" 

Harry shook his head, "No, it's okay. You two enjoy the night. I'm just...I'll go to bed. I'll see you in class." 

Sirius gripped his shoulder, "I'll help you in any way I can, Harry. I swear to you." 

Remus stepped forward, "I may not be able to help you in every way I can," Remus swept his eyes over the exiting stream of headmasters, and Harry understood, "but I will do what I am allowed...and as much more as I can get away with." He whispered the last, and Harry pulled him in, hugging him shortly. 

Cedric was at his elbow, and Hermione drifted far enough away for privacy. Harry looked up at the older boy, and Cedric looked stark with panic and concern. "You know that I didn't do put my name in the Goblet, Cedric..." 

"No, Harry, I know." Cedric assured him earnestly. "I can't believe Professor Dumbledore is letting this happen--there has to be another way." 

"Cedric...you put your name in. Why...?" 

"You've faced Dementors and You-Know-Who: you shouldn't have to do this." Cedric muttered helplessly. "I've never done anything so dangerous and brave as you do every year." 

Harry swallowed, nodding, "I understand." 

Cedric looked away, colour climbing in his face. "They all think..." 

"That I did it, yeah." Harry sighed. "It's not the first time everyone's hated me, though." 

A vein in Cedric's neck twitched, and he clenched his jaw angrily, his hands balling into fists, "That's bloody stupid." 

Harry shrugged, a weariness settling so deeply into his bones that the only thing he really wanted was to collapse into his bed and deal with Ron and the rest of the school tomorrow. 

"I will do...anything I can to make them see." 

Harry looked at Cedric closer now, seeing the young man who was promising someone that was essentially in competition with him that he would make his life easier in any way he could. "Thank you." 

He drifted off, and Hermione had gained a Ginny in waiting for him, the youngest Weasley looking thunderous. "That bloody prat of a brother of mine is being shirty and stupid." Ginny spat, "I will whoop him for you." 

"No, if he can't realize that I didn't do this, then there's nothing that's going to make it better." Harry shook his head sadly, and Ginny pulled him into a hug, still growling. "It's alright." 

"It will be." Hermione agreed. "But I'd rather like to know who tricked the Goblet of Fire." 

There was a cold light shining in Hermione's eyes, and Ginny smiled slowly, nodding that she was with Hermione one-hundred percent. Harry looked back to Sirius and Remus, where they stood in a conference with Minerva and, of all people, Snape. "It will." 

Remus nodded to Harry gravely, his jaw set as Sirius hissed at Minerva about the Goblet's curse and what, exactly, it would entail. Remus knew that he couldn't get around it, and they were trapped into letting Harry risk his life, again. "This has to be a fair competition, Black." Snape growled, "But that doesn't mean he is without help and support of his peers." 

"Look at them, Severus!" Remus snapped, "Ron Wesasley, Harry's best friend, thinks he's the one that put his name in that damn Goblet, and we both know that he couldn't have!" 

"Perhaps...Mr. Potter should acquire better friends." 

Sirius drew in a deep breath, and Minerva looked at the three of them with a sternness that Remus hadn't seen since fifth year. "We can't change Ron's reaction, but Cedric--the boy's Harry's competitor, and he believes in Harry's innocence. That's good enough for me." 

Sirius looked at his lover, and nodded after a moment, swallowing. "We should go." 

Remus and Sirius stumbled into Remus's abandoned classroom, both bone-tired and stressed. Sliding his fingers between Remus's, Sirius sighed tiredly. "Are you okay?" 

Sirius grunted, tossing the Floo powder in the fire and dragging himself into the flames. When Remus climbed out into their house, Sirius was waiting for him, wrapping his arms around Remus and sighing into his neck. Remus curled his fingers in Sirius's collar and let out a breath, closing his eyes. "Can you take me to bed?" Sirius whined into his skin. 

"You haven't eaten since lunch..." Remus argued half-heartedly. 

Sirius shook his head, though it was more of a rub into the skin of Remus's throat than it was anything else, "Dobby snuck me some dinner under the table, Remus. He always does." 

Remus laughed at the odd friendship his lover had gleaned with the house elf that the man had once had designs on killing for Harry's sake. He pressed his lips into the messy black hair, fisting his hands against Sirius's back and in his hair. "I will check with him if I have to, Siri." He threatened, trying to sound more stern than he could usually manage. Sirius huffed a laugh, pressing his lips against Remus's throat. "But, yes. I need you in my bed, protecting me from visions of our son and flames." 

"I know you can't tell me, or him. I wish you weren't in this position." 

"As do I. But I'll do what I can. And that's all any of us can do." 

"This isn't fair." Sirius whispered, voice broken. "I'd give just about anything to trade places with him. He doesn't deserve this." 

"You're right, he doesn't." Remus sighed. 

"You and Harry break my heart. You're the best damn men I've ever known and neither of you have it even slightly bloody easy." Sirius pulled back to cup his hand around Remus's jaw, staring into his eyes. 

"You didn't, either, Siri." Remus reminded him gently, "But we survive." 

Sirius kissed him slowly, wrapping around him as much as he could as they stood in the darkened library of their house, just the barest light of a waxing moon shining through the windows. 

They had two more days before Moony and Padfoot would be taking their run, this time through the Forbidden Forest instead of the woods around their house, with Minerva having ensured there would be no detentions carried out with Hagrid in there, and the temperature dipping low enough in the night to keep the students in their warm beds. Remus didn't relish the looming prospect of facing his sire, especially with Sirius there with him, but the Forest had to be made safe for the sakes of the children and the animals that were being massacred out there, and Remus had dallied for a month with the flimsy excuse of the chance of casualty if any of the students had snuck into the forest. 

His mind trailing to thoughts of how to keep Sirius from running with him, Remus tugged at his lover, getting them stumbling towards their bedroom and sighing as the night's sky shone down on them from the enchantment. Remus sighed as Sirius tore his mouth away, needing to breathe. Nudging along Sirius's jaw with his nose, Remus got to his pulse and nibbled at the tender skin there, humming as Sirius moaned. He pushed and tugged at Sirius's clothes, but whined slightly when Sirius moved back to strip, making quick work of his clothes to pull Remus back into his arms, threading his fingers through Remus's hair as he slid his other hand under Remus's robes, undoing buttons as he went. Remus gasped and sighed as Sirius bit down his throat, Remus's head tipped back to the sky in abandon. The stress was melted away in Sirius's kisses, and Remus felt like his legs were about to give up on him if he wasn't careful. 

As if he could sense this, Sirius moved them until Remus's knees hit the bed, and Remus fell, breaking the too-hot kiss that Sirius had yanked him into. Remus swallowed, his eyes blown as he looked up at Sirius with hunger. He licked his lips, and Sirius smirked, climbing so that he was straddling Remus on the bed, wrapping his arms around Remus's shoulders easily and still smiling into their next kiss, and the one after. 

Remus's fingers gripped Sirius's waist, pressing fingerprint bruises into Sirius's skin as Sirius slowly stripped him, making a tease of it. Remus's breath caught as Sirius tipped him backwards onto the bed, his torso bare and Sirius's clever fingers working at Remus's trousers. getting off the bed to tug them off, much to Remus's chagrin and delight. 

"We should be listening for--" 

"He's a grown boy, and I doubt he'd need us." Sirius whispered, "He has Minerva and Diggory and Ginny and Hermione." 

"Still don't like Cedric, hm?" 

"I just," Sirius kissed him, "wish," again, "the boy would," Remus let out something that he'd deny was a giggle, "come clean." 

"Just because you and I wasted our time, Siri, doesn't mean Cedric is wasting Harry's, or the other way 'round." Remus reminded him. "Harry doesn't seem all that interested to be honest." 

"In anyone." Sirius agreed, then groaned, planting his face in Remus's chest, "Can we stop talking about our son?" 

Remus grinned, "As you wish." 

Remus pulled Sirius into his chest and rolled, boxing the other man in with his arms and pressing kisses along his jaw and throat. Sirius moaned happily, and wrapped his long hand around both their cocks, rubbing them together and eliciting a wrecked moan from Remus's lips. Sirius only pulled off from the mark he was sucking into Remus's shoulder because of the sharp tug Remus gave his hair, looking up at Remus's laid-bare features. 

"Not...I want..." 

Sirius kissed the tender skin where he'd sucked the mark, and grinned while doing it, "As you wish." He returned, his hand unwrapping, playing over Remus's hip to slip around his back, tracing to his hole. 

Remus groaned whole-heartedly, biting his lip and burying his face in Sirius's neck. 

"Off, and lay on your stomach, love." Sirius ordered, swatting at Remus's thigh. Remus pulled himself over, but didn't so much lay on his stomach as curl his knees up underneath him, his cock throbbing and leaking. He knew Sirius, and Sirius knew that Remus was going to fall apart in the most delicious of ways as he licked into his hole, fluttering his tongue against the tight sphincter. Remus cried out, pushing his knees apart to reach for his cock, just trying to hold back. Sirius rolled his tongue over Remus and Remus's muscle gave just a little, the fingers of his free hand clutching hard into the bedsheets. 

Sirius soothed a hand over his back, and Remus moaned, face buried in Sirius's pillow instead of his own. 

Sirius took his time, turning Remus inside out before he deemed him ready, and Remus nearly wept as Sirius pushed him onto his back, snagging another pillow to place under Remus's hips. Sirius laid himself out over Remus, looking down at him through the mess of black hair, and Remus arched his back, letting out another devastated moan as Sirius slowly pushed into him, Remus pushing more finger-print bruises onto his back. 

Remus shuddered as Sirius paused, letting him adjust, and Sirius pressed his lips to the delicate place where his neck curved out to his shoulder, his mouth moving in a kind of prayer over Remus's skin without a single sound. 

"I love you, too." Remus whispered, and Sirius's breath caught. Remus shifted so that he could reach Sirius's lips, pressing loose kisses there because he couldn't handle a full-fledged kiss, the tight pressure of Sirius in him blissful. 

Sirius wrapped his hands around Remus's hips, nipping Remus's lower lip as he started to just carefully rock them together. Remus let out a desperate gasp, and Sirius's lips continued to move over Remus's skin, making Remus's heart expand. 

Tugging on Sirius's hair, Remus pulled his lips up, kissing him soundly. Remus rolled his hips and moaned, his eyes fluttering closed as Sirius drew his thumb over a nipple, his mouth biting a line down from his shoulder to the other. Remus tried to get a hold of himself, using all he had at his disposal to tighten himself around Sirius, Sirius's aching moan muffled into his chest, sending vibrations through his ribcage. Remus shuddered, feeling Sirius's hand curl around his cock and losing himself to the sensation, Sirius letting himself go as Remus did, his breath burning over Remus's chest. 

Remus pulled and shifted, arranging them until he had Sirius tucked tightly in his arms, Sirius's forehead tucked against his throat. 

Remus gathered up Sirius's fingers, kissing his knuckles and the pads of his fingers, breathing just as hard as Sirius, flushed bright red. "It will be okay, Siri." Remus whispered. "We will make it okay." 

"I'm scared, Remus." 

"I'm with you, Siri, you don't have to be scared." 

Padfoot bounded along beside Remus as they walked from the Dining Hall the next morning. Padfoot rumbled at the sight of Ron sitting away from Harry and Hermione, but Cedric cut that short as he strode over to an abandoned seat and dropped onto the bench, sitting at the Gryffindor table with a stony jaw and a set glare, his eyes sweeping over the other occupants as they whispered about Harry. 

A Slytherin and a Ravenclaw followed him, the Slytherin girl looking moody and bored. "Lorna Watson-Holmes." The Slytherin introduced herself, her black hair braided into an artistic bun, holding out a long, thin hand to Harry and Hermione. Her bright blue eyes took in Harry in one glance, "Cedric asked that I help you rather than him. He must care, because I'm one of the best assets he has." 

"Lor..." Cedric admonished quietly. 

"I'm Luna." The diminutive blonde told them airily. "I see that Ronald's being attacked by Fickle-Headed Snorthares." 

"My brother's not as smart as I am." Ginny agreed with her, Fred and George sitting down with her beside Luna. 

"Not many are." Luna hummed, looking at the porridge before her like it was a new invention. 

"I...thank you. But I don't--" 

"You're three years behind the other three champions. You _need_ me.. Even more than this one does. You're proficient at Defense Against the Dark Arts, and why shouldn't you be? Your guardian is the professor of the subject, after all. You're not the strongest wizard; you know that yourself, relying on luck and the guidance of others. Cedric would like it if I guided you, rather than helping him." 

Harry looked from Lorna to Cedric, "What if you helped us both." Lorna punched Cedric in the arm, grinning, "Told you he was smarter than that." 

Cedric shook his head, "You don't--" 

"Neither do you." Harry rejoined.

Cedric looked around the room, "I just...I've heard the whispers, Harry. And I already know that you had nothing to do with your name in the cup." 

"You're a good friend." Hermione told him appreciatively. 

Lorna arched a perfect eyebrow, "Haven't you heard? All Hufflepuffs are." 

Harry started slightly as Padfoot slid under the bench and flopped on his feet. Hermione's head whipped around curiously, then peeked down, smiling gently and slipping her arm through his as she straightened. 

"So, the redhead? That Ron?" 

"Yes." Ginny answered. 

"Please don't curse him." Cedric requested tightly. Fred and George looked at each other, a matching set of eyebrows raising. 

"Sport, dear sister?" Fred asked. 

"Not yet." Ginny murmured tightly. "We are family. He's a prat, but he doesn't deserve a curse. Yet." 

Shocked that the twins were following her lead, Harry glanced down the table at Ron, sitting with Seamus Finnegan, though Dean Thomas was sitting closer to the group at the end of the table than he was his best friend. 

"When Mum finds out..." Fred whispered. 

"He'll get another Howler." Ginny replied sweetly. Pads chuffed under the table, and Ginny colored, pleased. 

"Even we're not being prats about this--" 

"You two walked around behind me all during second year saying that if anyone made me angry, I'd set the monster from the Chamber of Secrets after them." Harry snorted. 

"Yeah, but we were merely increasing the tension before our Quidditch games in order to get inside other people's heads. No offense, mate." George smacked Cedric on the shoulder, ducking his head in a nod. 

"Even last year I was worried about going up against you: you'd defeated a Basilisk, banished You-Know-Who from a teacher, and you're the youngest Seeker in a century. You have a bit of a reputation." 

"I just hope it doesn't continue to grow." 

Padfoot joined Remus for his class, bumping Harry's knee with his head before crawling back out under the bench and trotting to catch up with Remus. Remus gave Harry a little wave before he disappeared out of the door, and Hermione smiled, "It's going to be alright, Harry." She murmured. "We're in this together." 

"That we are, mate." Fred and George agreed, nodding and holding out fists in solidarity. 

Ginny met Harry's eye, nodding regally, with a cool power about her that made Harry wonder when she'd taken the time to become such a powerhouse. 

"Thanks, guys." 

"'Couse, we'd also like to take wagers." Fred teased, leaning forward on an elbow. 

Harry laughed, shaking his head, "Of course." 

"Ginny?" George asked curiously, and Hermione snorted at the gall of it. 

Ginny was staring at Harry, her features intent--and then horror dawned slowly, her eyes going wide and her face pale, Luna and Cedric reaching for her, "She just saw someone die." Lorna commented easily, pouring out Pumpkin Juice and pressing it into Ginny's hand, "Drink." She ordered, her voice clear and cutting. 

Her hand trembling, Ginny got the glass to her lips and began to gulg the juice down, colour rushing through her almost immediately. 

"Now eat some toast or porridge. That's a girl." Lorna soothed. 

"How did you know?" Harry asked quietly, watching as Ginny did as she was told like a good girl. 

"I've seen it before. My...my parents are in the detective business. My father's a consultant for Scotland Yard in London." 

"Are you...Muggle-born?" Hermione asked suddenly. 

"I am, yes. And raised by two fathers. It's given me rather a tougher outlook than most Slytherins seem to have the nerve for." With her statuesque, pale features, Lorna looked like an ancient warrior queen, her chillingly blue eyes telling of things that no one else could have said they've seen. 

"Oh? I'm being raised by two fathers." 

"Mmm, one of yours isn't a sociopath, I'd wager." Lorna murmured, "Ginny, go slow for now on the fats until your stomach settles. Fred, George, we need to talk about what you'd hex your dear brother with. Ric, I'll talk to you in Herbology, and Harry and Hermione, it was bloody lovely to meet you, I'll see you at dinner." Lorna dropped a kiss on Luna's white-blonde hair, and Luna smiled hazily, waving to her as she disappeared as if she was commanding an army. 

"That was a hurricane shaped like a girl, my boy." Fred clapped Harry on the shoulder from across the table, both twins' eyes on her exit. 

"I didn't think there was anyone tolerable in Slytherin." Hermione mused. 

Cedric looked back at her, his features drawn with sadness, "Slytherins will claim a person as theirs, and will move heaven and earth to protect whatever they've laid claim to. That's gotten them burned, Hermione. It's not just the other houses that have had trouble; it's the other Slytherins, too. Lorna would've turned Malfoy into a ferret if he'd dared to call you a Mudblood in front of her. Yes, I heard about it. It's a good thing Lorna doesn't. Luna stumbled into a duel between Lorna and a seventh year when Luna was just a first year and Lorna was only a fourth. She's got a scar on her back because the git aimed for Luna to distract her. Lorna hung him off of one of the turrets on the Astronomy Tower and told him to learn to fly if he wanted to get down." 

Luna nodded, her eyes round and wide, taking everything in--maybe even the things everyone else couldn't. "She told me it was silly to follow the sounds of dueling, but I was only following the spiders." 

"You're in the same year as Ginny...you were following the spiders?!" Harry asked, sounding perplexed. 

Luna shrugged, "When spiders flee, it's a bad sign. I wanted to ask them if they needed any help, but they just told me to go around the castle with my eyes closed." 

"Which is how I met Luna and Lorna, she wandered almost into a Audreius muscipula--" 

"A man-eating flytrap." Hermione confirmed, chin angled down and eyes boring into Cedric as if he couldn't possibly be telling the truth. 

He nodded, and so did Luna, "I named her Audrey. She's lovely, but she needs far too much feeding." 

Hermione paled, "Don't they...?" 

"Don't ask. Suffice it to say it wasn't fully grown yet." Cedric cut in, "Rats. The occasional ferret." 

Hermione looked appalled, "Why on earth--"

"Gringotts wanted one, and Professor Sprout jumped at the chance to teach us about them." Cedric shrugged. 

Hermione looked utterly put-off from her meal, and Harry decided to stop eating, too, glancing purely because it was habit, for Ron, and finding himself being stared at like he'd become the one thing Ron loathed most in the world. 

Harry sucked in a breath and looked away, nodding to Hermione that he was ready to go to class when she was. Luna's eyes focused on Harry as he rose, and she smiled, her features lit as if she had a sun under her skin. "It was lovely to meet you." 

"You, too, Luna." Hermione answered for both of them, and she hesitated for just a second before putting a hand on Cedric's arm, " _Thank you_." She impressed, her gaze stark with sincerity. 

He shook his head once, giving a dashing grin that made Harry grin back, and he and Hermione were off. 

They'd only made it to the Great Hall when Ron caught up, though, colour burning in his cheeks and his gaze like a viper pit, "You can't have other houses at the table." He spat.

Hermione turned to him, raising a brow and letting ice into her features, "There is no rule against it, and if any of the teachers had a problem with it, I'm sure they would've said." 

She turned, and thrust her arm through Harry's as she had earlier, carrying him along with her in a sprint, her ears blazing. 

"I can't be _lieve_ he had the nerve--" she cut off as Harry stopped dead, forcing her to skid to a halt, and crash back into him, her gaze confused as she looked up at him. 

"Hermione, I told you about Ron's vision in the Mirror, about him finally having glory?" Hermione nodded, and then understanding and disapproval warred on her face. 

"Doesn't forgive him." 

"Maybe not, but it does make sense. All Ron wants is to be better than his family thinks of him, than anyone thinks of him. He won the best-played game of chess in Hogwarts first year, but Ron needs to feel like he's accomplished something." 

Hermione's mouth twisted down on one side and she huffed through her nose, shifting her weight grumpily, "Fine, but I'm still angry that he'd have the nerve to do this." 

Harry shrugged, "That's fair." 

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him, "You've spent too much time with Remus, the wisdom has rubbed off on you." 

Harry laughed, and Hermione grinned, dragging him along again for their Charms class. 

From the shadow of an alcove just down the hall, Draco had listened, and he felt a pang of jealousy for Potter and Granger, having each other not by fear or by fanged respect, but because they were right together; because they balanced and joined and gave all they could to being true friends. Crabbe and Goyle had simply fallen in; his father being the brains for their fathers, as much as he was for them. It'd been that way since they were boys. 

And now, his father had disappeared, and both the Crabbe and Goyle fathers seemed to fear for their lives. 

Draco considered Potter and the fact his name had come out of the Goblet of Fire, and a cold, dark part of him hoped that Potter was the one to die in these supposedly-perilous tasks. But the rest of him was determined that he wouldn't--there was no other word for it. 

Resolved, Draco decided to speak to the girl, Lorna; if only to offer _her_ assistance. 

By the time Defense Against the Dark Arts had rolled around, Draco had out away the vulnerability that had him _feeling_ for Potter, focusing on the rage he had at the back of his throat. Granger was a bright witch; brighter, Draco could admit, than any he'd ever met--but she was no better or more than he was: she was a bright, know-it-all Mudblood, but Draco was pure, and he'd never betrayed his heritage or his friends as Weasley had. 

Startled out of his contemplation of Potter, Draco found himself nose to nose with a great, black dog, and startled out of his chair, letting out a short scream of shock as he fell. 

"Pads!" Harry called from across the classroom, laughing despite himself, and the dog loped over to him, setting his head on Harry's leg and grinning as Harry scritched his ears. 

"Padfoot..." Professor Lupin called in admonishment as he came sweeping into the classroom with a jar of spiders under his arm, holding his office door open and shooting the dog a look, nodding as it loped up the stairs into the office with a displeased huff. "Mr. Malfoy?" 

"That bloody dog--" 

"It is neither against the rules nor his fault you're a jumpy git." Hermione snapped at him, and Draco sneered at her, teeth bared. 

"He's quite friendly, just oddly...sneaky." Remus assured, setting the jar on his desk. "Now, I'm sure you've all heard of the attack at the Quidditch World Cup?" 

The question spread murmurs through the room like wildfire, and Remus nodded once. 

Neville's hand went up, his cheeks burning oddly, and his eyes steely, "Professor? I was wondering...that is, I know that it's not cirriculum, but...Please tell me about the Unforgivable Curses." 

Remus looked long and hard at Neville, sighing and pulling himself together, "I take it this interest stems--" 

"Bellatrix Lestrange...she...she--" 

Remus nodded, holding out a hand, "Yes, Neville. And I expect no one else is willing to tell you. Before we go any further, though, I would like to cover why these curses are unforgivable. Hermione?" 

Hermione's eyes were fixed forward, and there was a muscle jumping in her jaw, "There are three curses that are unforgivable...and they are deemed as such because they are barbaric, and there is no way to guard against them..." Hermione managed, looking up at Remus slowly. 

"Yes. These three are the worst kind of magic. And they should never, ever be used. I pray that none of you ever do." Remus cast his eyes over Neville, who looked away, before taking a deep breath and continuing. "Who can tell me what the three curses are?"

Malfoy found himself raising his hand, "The Imperius Curse." 

Remus nodded, and turned to the black board, writing it down, "This curse does what, Miss Patil?" 

Parvati cleared her throat, "It...It makes the victim do whatever the caster orders him to." 

"Including killing others, and even causing themselves bodily harm, yes. It overrides the mind, even our basest of impulses: to survive, to find food or shelter. Now, there are many who have said that they only did You-Know-Who's bidding because they were under the influence of the Imperius Curse. This makes it damn hard to sort out who is lying from who is being true. Who can tell me the next?" 

"The...The Curciatus Curse." Neville's voice had a small tremor, and Hermione almost whimpered. 

"Yes." Remus breathed, "The torture curse. This curse is perhaps even more brutal than the final Unforgivable Curse, because the agony it causes cannot be escaped while the curse remains on its victim." From the office, Remus and Harry could hear Padfoot whine against the door, "Using the torture curse is the lowest of the low, but use of the final curse is just as cowardly. The Killing Curse. A flash of green light, and the victim is very simply dead." Harry shifted, and Hermione's hand slid around his under the desk. "There is only one person who has ever survived a Killing Curse, because it's nearly impossible to protect against and even harder to cast. The Killing Curse takes power--force, behind the magic. You do not cast this curse without meaning behind it, and even then, if you don't have the drive to kill, it might only cause a nosebleed." 

Whispers that it was Potter who'd survived pervaded the classroom, and Remus sighed, holding up his hands, "These curses are, are Miss Granger said, barbaric. There are some things that you cannot come back from; and the casting of any of these is one of them. Not even upon your worst enemy should these curses be used. Not only are they the worst evil there is, they guarantee the caster a one-way ticket to Azkaban. I believe in teaching you _defense_ , so this is all we'll say on the matter; but know this--A person who casts these spells, knowing what I've told you now, may well be evil." 

At the end of class, Remus called for Neville, glancing over the boy's head and nodding to Harry, a sad set to his features. 

Hermione looked as if she was a moment away from crying as they walked to their next class, and Harry tucked her under his arm as they walked to Transfiguration. Harry was bursting with questions, but setting Hermione over the edge wasn't what he wanted at all. 

Just outside of the classroom, Hermione yanked him into an alcove, hugging him tightly, "I'm so sorry, Harry." 

"Hermione, I...I'm glad to know now. My parents died to protect me, and Voldemort was a coward when he did it." 

Hermione looked at him for a long time before nodding and pulling him into a hug again. "Then I'm glad it was Remus." 

"So am I." Harry agreed quietly. "Why was Neville...?" 

"Bellatrix used the Cruciatus Curse on his parents until they went mad, Harry." She whispered. "He was only small, but he was there when it happened, hidden." 

Harry couldn't breathe for a second, the pain was so acute that Neville had gone through that. Hermione slipped back out of the alcove and Harry followed obediently into Transfiguration, Minerva sweeping a glance over her peaky--looking Gryffindors with a raised brow. 

In Remus's office, Remus and Neville sat with tea, Padfoot curled at Neville's feet with an open book he'd pulled himself out of reading. "Neville, are you alright?" 

"I am." Neville choked out, "I...I wanted to know." 

"I know you did, Neville, but that doesn't make the blow of knowing any softer." 

Neville shook as he took a breath, and Padfoot rested his head along Neville's calf to look up at him. The boy swallowed, and Remus was silent, ready and waiting. "I don't remember it...I was..." 

"Do you remember when Harry fainted on the train last year, Neville? The Dementors effected Harry...by replaying the night his parents were killed in front of his crib. Now, I expect that you would've told someone of your own trouble..." Remus's eyes belied his words, just a little stern, knowing that that hadn't been what Neville had done at all, "but to have heard the horrors that one has witnessed...horrors that we've tried to shove away, tamp down: it's more painful than anyone should have to take, Neville." 

"She's _out there_." Neville whispered, voice cracking. "Harry's stronger than me...because I want to kill her, and I don't care how I would do it." 

"Harry wanted to kill Sirius as well, Neville, at first. When someone we love is taken from us, as Harry's parents and your own were taken from you...it makes us want vengeance. That is human. The only reason Harry hadn't done what he'd wanted was because Sirius wasn't the one that helped Voldemort kill his parents; and he didn't kill Peter, because that would've meant Sirius's chance at innocence slipping away. You are quite strong, Neville: you've proved that time and again. Now, here: I thought you might like to escape your thoughts for a time. This is a bit of a rare book, it's not in the library at least. You have your own strengths; and Herbology is one of them." 

Neville accepted the book, his head ducking slightly. 

"None of us are quite like Harry, Neville. To compare yourself to him--or to anyone else--is foolish." 

Neville nodded slowly, and got up to catch up with his classmates, Pads walking along with him until Minerva's room, nodding at her as Neville shuffled in, and she kept quiet about Neville's tardiness with a nod of her own. 

Sirius transformed as soon as he was in Remus's office again, striding towards Remus and wrapping around him. "Siri, I'm not one of the children--" 

"You've had those curses cast on you, my Moony. And no one knows that but me." 

Remus sighed gustily, pulling Sirius down into his lap and wrapping his own arms around him, closing his eyes. Remus had had those curses cast for him, and each one he'd forced to backfire. It was the only time he'd ever taken a life, though Sirius was loathe to hear him say that it had been him that had taken the life. Tucking his face down against Sirius's neck, Remus tightened his arms around him, making himself breathe, "It doesn't matter, Siri. It's not as if--" 

"They hurt you, Remus. Maybe not in the way they were meant to, but in the ways that matter..." 

"I'm here, unharmed." 

"And here you'd better bloody stay." Sirius whispered pig-headedly. He pressed a hand either side of Remus's face and rested their foreheads together, "I love you, you stubborn git." 

"I love you, too, you dolt." Sirius grinned, pulling their mouths together and grinning into a kiss. 

"You've marking to do. I'll be at home, waiting." 

"Mmm, I shouldn't just do it at home, should I?" 

"I do intend on thoroughly distracting you..." Sirius teased, nibbling on the skin beneath Remus's ear. 

Remus shivered, "That sounds wonderful..." 

Sirius wrapped his arms around Remus and put his mouth over his pulse and licked, sucking just enough to make the skin red, but careful not to bruise where it could be visible. 

Remus's arm wrapped around Sirius's waist, pulling him up and in, moaning happily. 

"Merlin, is it hard to let you go for even this long." 

"Insatiable." 

Sirius purred, grinning slowly. "And incorrigible, and impossible..." Sirius popped open two buttons on Remus's collar, biting his collarbone.

Remus was considering the ramifications of locking the door and having his way with Sirius when there was a pecking at his window, and Hedwig's face peeked through, holding a silver feather in her beak. 

"Anariel's going through her burning..." Remus panted, "poor Hedwig." 

"I'll go." Sirius whispered, kissing Remus's temple, "To be continued..." 

Remus's eyes flashed up to Sirius as he got up and strode to the fireplace, Hedwig letting out a hoot and flapping off back towards the house as Sirius threw Floo powder into the almost-dead fireplace, stepping in gamely and announcing where he wanted to go. 

Remus leaned back in his chair with a groan, anticipation thrumming through him because Sirius had never failed to deliver when he'd told Remus he'd continue anything. 

Remus plunged into marking like a man possessed, pushing to get home. He started when there were two soft raps at his office door, and he called for whoever it was to come in, realizing with a flash of pride that he'd managed to get through three-quarters of his marking. "Harry!" Remus exclaimed, stumbling to his feet and crossing the desk quickly, worried. 

Harry cast a glance around the room for Padfoot, closing the door behind him quietly and standing there, his eyes cast down. "I...I wanted to talk to someone about it. Hermione was near tears for Neville and I, and Cedric can't give me the answers I need or the support, our friendship is too new." 

"Harry, you know that you can ask me anything you need to." Remus told him, taking Harry's shoulder and guiding him over to the circle of chairs by the fire, sitting with him. "Is it me you're looking for, or Sirius?" He asked suddenly, the thought occurring to him. 

"No!" Harry answered quickly, and then he colored. "No, Sirius...he blames himself. I don't want to add to that or make it surface. I want to talk to you. You knew them and you loved them and I trust you not to lie to me to protect me. Please, Remus--" 

"You needn't beg, Harry. I will tell you anything you need to know." 

Harry nodded, looking away again, gathering himself, "Did...did they suffer?" 

"...No. The Killing Curse...no one can say if it hurts, really; no one's survived it to tell. But it's sudden. Immediate. It does not give a victim a fighting chance, let alone time enough to feel it."

The weight of Harry's trust sat on Remus's chest as Harry swallowed, considering that answer. "There are other ways of killing with magic--" 

"There are, yes. But none quite like that. None that can't be fought." 

Harry looked to the fire, "H-How does it kill you?" 

Remus swallowed this time, taking a breath and reaching out a hand for Harry's. "It stops...everything." 

Harry nodded once in understanding, looking up at Remus with eyes that weren't really seeing. "Thank you." He whispered. 

Remus nodded, and pulled him in, wrapping him in a hug and rubbing a hand over his back. "I'm sorry, Harry." 

Harry shook his head, hugging back tightly. "It's okay." 

"Anariel is going through a burning day. Hedwig was concerned." 

Harry laughed quietly, sniffing just a little as he pulled back, looking at Remus with sad eyes. "I should go to dinner." 

"Yes. I've got a little more marking before I go home tonight. Will you be okay?" 

"Yes, I'm fine," Harry shrugged, and Remus narrowed his eyes, pulling him back in for a tight hug, "or I will be." 

"Sirius and I love you, Harry. Don't be scared to talk to us, please." 

Harry nodded silently, thanking Remus again before slipping back out to go for dinner. Remus got up and moved back to his marking, making quick work of it now more out of a want to simply be home than the craving of what Sirius had promised. 

Remus sighed when he got into the fire, and it was a welcome sight to come out to, their kitchen bathed in firelight and the smells of dinner wafting through the house. "Moony? You look peaky." Sirius cupped Remus's face in his hands immediately, a dusting of seasoning smudged accidentally on one cheek and his eyes wide and bright. 

"Harry came to speak with me. It's okay." Remus murmured, his own hands coming up to Sirius's biceps. 

He eased Sirius forward, kissing him slow and deep. Remus relaxed into Sirius, a happy glow slowly blooming over his features. "He is okay?" Sirius confirmed, panting just a little. 

"Yes." Remus chuckled, and pulled him in again, "He's okay. He...he wanted to know. Wanted to know what it would've felt like, how it would've killed them. He wanted to know that they didn't feel any pain." 

Sirius closed his eyes and whined in the back of his throat, angling his mouth up to Remus's like he needed kisses in order to live. 

Remus soothed him, running his hands over Sirius's shoulders, down his chest. "It's okay." He promised quietly, pulling away and turning his head into their small dining area, seeing Anariel's perch moved down from Harry's room so that Sirius could appease Hedwig he was keeping an eye on her. She looked terrible, her beautiful feathers falling out and her eyes dull. He trailed toward her, cooing as he lifted a hand to her cheek. "Phoenixes do this, Hedwig. Fretting will only make you molt." 

Hedwig looked at him, affronted, and Sirius laughed, going to the stove and dishing up for the both of them, Remus sliding into a seat at the table and sighing. The draw of the moon swelling above their heads was making him anxious, and his anxiety just made Sirius want to mother him. He sat back, watching as Sirius danced idly around the kitchen, gathering up their meals, and he let his contentment sit in his stomach, as if the monster inside him would feel it and submit; as if he could make Greyback feel his contentment and leave them be. 

Sirius had tailored the meal with the moon in mind, and Remus felt the tug of the urge for red meat assuaged. He ate hungrily, barely taking the time between bites to breathe, and Sirius didn't comment, just eating steadily at his own pace and leaving the silence between them in its comfortable stretch. 

"You didn't eat lunch." Sirius reminded Remus gently, leaning over as he cleared their dishes to kiss Remus's hair. 

"Damn..." Remus muttered, breathing hard after he'd stuffed himself the way he had. 

"How do you feel?" Sirius asked, leaning on Remus's chair as he drew his fingers up into the longer bits of hair at Remus's nape. 

"Like I have an exam tomorrow and I haven't studied since semester started." Remus replied tensely. 

Sirius tsked, pulling his head back carefully and losing himself into Remus's eyes because that meant Remus would get lost in his, "You have never been anything short of a straight-A student, Remus." Remus managed a small smile, and he let Sirius tug him upstairs, the two of them flicking off their lights as Hedwig took wing out of the window, off to hunt for something for both herself and Anariel. 

Under that same moon, Voldemort plotted and wheezed, tended to by Bellatrix as they waited for the second of his most faithful of followers. 

"I hardly recognize you." Bellatrix cackled as they were joined, the moon hanging low over the graveyard where his Muggle father had been buried. 

Barty Crouch Jr. was not the man he'd appeared as for his life; nor for his faked death. The rat scurried to Bellatrix and Voldemort as if seeking asylum, but Bellatix's heeled boot just barely missed its body. Wormtail shifted, going through the change like it was as painful as a werewolf's, for all he hadn't changed between the forms in thirteen years. "Master," Barty dropped to one knee on the soft ground in front of Bellatrix and Voldemort. 

"Rise." Voldemort bade him, "What news from the castle?" 

In the breathy, mystic tones of his new shape, Barty reported, "The attempt on Sirius Black's soul failed, master; and the Longbottom boy is alternately wetting the bed for fear and on the hunt for Bella's blood." Barty paused so that Bella could let out a sharp, merciless laugh. "The werewolf, Remus Lupin...he has yet to face his sire." 

"It must be coming soon..." Voldemort wheezed, "the next moon...tell Greyback to find a young victim." 

Barty nodded, "Potter's name has been pulled from the Cup, master. He's been forced to play." 

"Good work, Barty." Voldemort rasped, "Now make sure he makes it to where we need him. He cannot die!" 

"Yes, master," Barty bowed, and with a pop he'd Apparated away. 

"What are you doing here, fool?! Barty will not meet Greyback alone!" Voldemort wheezed at Pettigrew, and with a terrified whimper, Peter Apparated as well. 

"We'll get to kill him soon, yes, master?" Bella asked desperately, half between lust and a child's begging for fun. 

"I will, Bella. But your cousin...your cousin I shall leave for you." 

"And if the wolf doesn't bow to his sire?" 

"Yes, the wolf, too." Bella's joy amused Voldemort, as she carried him back into the old house he'd killed what was left of his family in. 

The moon could do nothing as it watched down on the plots and plans. 

But Hedwig and Anariel could.


End file.
